The ACPHS Women's Basketball team staged an incredible comeback on Sunday, February 3^rd, defeating the Pratt Institute Cannoneers 50-47 despite finishing the game with just three players on the court. This was Albany's second win of the year, and they are now 2-14 overall after snapping a skid of 10 straight losses.

The game did not start out well for Albany as they struggled in the first half and went into the break down 31-20 due in large part to some poor shooting an an inability to get to the free throw line. As a team, shot just 27% (9-33) in the opening 20 minutes, and attempted just one free throw compared to 14 attempts for Pratt.

The third quarter was more of the same for Albany, and though they were able to cut the deficit to nine, they continued to get into foul trouble and looked more and more likely to have some foul-outs in the latter stages. With just a six-woman team due to injuries and departures, ACPHS only need two foul-outs to have to play with one less player than the Cannoneers.

Junior forward Olivia Parameter (Waddington, NY / Madrid Waddington Central) was the first Panther to exit with 8:07 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Panthers down eight. They played the next six minutes with no substitutions but cut the lead to just four with 2:16 remaining when freshman guard Shriya Chandna (Fremont, CA / Irvington) fouled out, leaving Albany with just four eligible players.

In the ensuing minute, Albany cut the Cannoneer lead to three, but sophomore forward Ava Misner (Meriden, CT / Platt) exited after recording her fifth foul at the 1:20 mark. The scenario was this: Albany down three, Pratt guard Dejah Johnson at the free throw line with two attempts upcoming, and the Panthers down to three eligible players. These three players, freshman guard Clare Snell (Potsdam, NY / Parishville Hopkinton), freshman guard Erica Scholl (Frankfort, NY / Frankfort),  and junior guard Emma Webster (Cadyville, NY / Saranac High), would go on to produce one of the great comebacks in school history.

Johnson stepped to the line and hit her first foul shot, but missed the second. Now down four, Scholl grabbed the defensive rebound and passed to Webster who dribbled up the floor and stepped into a three-pointer which she drilled to cut the deficit to one. Pratt then called a timeout with 1:09 left, but it wasn't enough, as the ensuing play saw Snell block a layup attempt from Cannoneer forward Emily Guerra and the ball roll out of bounds off of Pratt. After some trouble inbounding, ACPHS was able to draw a foul with 46 seconds left that sent Emma Webster to the line with a chance to take the lead. She hit both, and the Panthers took their first lead of the second half.

The next play in my opinion was the play of the game. The Panthers were forced to play some kind of hybrid 1-1-1 zone in an attempt to keep Pratt from getting inside, and at the top of the zone was Clare Snell. As Pratt probed for an opening, Snell stepped up an intercepted a pass for her SEVENTH steal of the game, none being more important. The Panthers called a timeout, hit two free throws after they successfully inbounded, but then gave up a layup with ten seconds left to put their lead back to one. Snell then stepped up and hit two more free throws, and Pratt could not connect on their tree-point attempt as time expired. In a season of disappointment for the Panthers, this was an exciting and rewarding victory when it was all said and done.

For the Panthers, it was Webster who led the way with 20 points, 18 of which came from her six made threes. Snell scored 14 points of her own, and in addition to her seven steals, provided five assists. Scholl, in the best game of her career, recorded five points and two steals in a career-high 24 minutes of action. Albany will look to this win in the future as proof that they can be resilient and weather adversity down the stretch of tight games.

There next game will take place at Purchase College on Wednesday, Febraury 6^th at 7:00pm.