The ACPHS Women's Basketball team, in their first appearance in the USCAA National Championships since 2017, fell to the Johnson & Wales – Charlotte Wildcats by a score of 84-49. Overall, the Panthers now stand at 12-12.

Albany qualified for the USCAA Basketball National Championship Tournament last week when they earned the HVIAC's automatic bid by winning the conference's postseason tournament. They were awarded the 10th overall seed in this years nationals, while JWU earned the 7th overall on the strength of an 11-12 record against a schedule that was rated the 4th toughest in the USCAA Division II this season.

The Panthers fell behind early in this one when the Wildcats ripped off a 12-3 run in the opening four minutes of the game. A pair of threes from senior guard Emma Webster, who was recently named 2019-20 HVIAC Player of the Year, got the Panthers back into the contest and cut the lead to six.

Johnson & Wales pressed their advantage coming out of the break, scoring 12 straight points to put the score at 29-11 with five minutes left in the half. Albany's strongest period came shortly thereafter, when Webster drilled two more threes to chop the Wildcat lead to 10 with 20 minutes to go.

The lead was all the way down to six after a jumper from freshman forward Hope Walker at 5:54 of the third quarter, but that's as close as Albany would come. JWU- Charlotte shutout ACP the rest of the quarter and scored 14 straight points to put the score out of reach.

Webster led the Panthers with 16 points while her fellow senior, Olivia Parmeter, finished with 11. Sophomore guard Clare Snell, a 2019-20 HVIAC All-Conference selection, added 10 points and three rebounds. JWU was led by Ineesha Hankerson, who dropped a game high 23 points to go along with 15 rebounds.

Albany will conclude their trip to nationals tomorrow, when they take on Penn State Fayette in the consolation bracket at 10:00 AM.