The Canisius College women's basketball team rallied from an 11-point second half deficit to come back and defeat the University at Albany 64-60 in the Koessler Athletic Center on Thursday evening. The Golden Griffins even their record at 5-5 on the season.

Sophomore Courtney VandeBovenkamp led Canisius with a season-high 14 points in 22 minutes. Sophomore Jamie Ruttle had 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Junior Ashley Durham had six points, four rebounds and a game-high eight assists.

"That was a gutty win by our team tonight. When Albany took the 11-point lead in the beginning of the second half, we could have given up and not tried to fight back," Canisius coach Terry Zeh said. "We didn't quit, turned up our intensity and found a way to beat a good Albany team."

After a jumper from sophomore Jen Lennox tied the score at 8-8 seven minutes into the game, a jumper from Julie Forster gave Albany a lead it wouldn't relinquish for the rest of the half. The Great Danes held the Griffs to one field goal during the next five-plus minutes. A layup from VandeBovenkamp brought Canisius within five at 22-17 with five and a half minutes left in the half. A 3-pointer on the next possession from Lindsey Lowrie gave Albany its largest lead of the half, 25-17. A layup from junior Ashley Durham in the final seconds sent Canisius into the locker room down 31-25.

The Great Danes scored the first five points of the second half to extend their lead to 11 at 36-25 after a 3-pointer from Kate Cronin and layup from Ebone Henry. The Griffs then held the Great Danes without a field goal for the next six minutes, going on a 9-0 run. Lennox scored the first points of the half for Canisius with a 3-pointer at the 15:50 mark. A basket from VandeBovenkamp capped the run and brought Canisius within two at 36-34.

Canisius took its first lead of the second half on a 3-pointer from sophomore Jen Morabito to go up 40-39. Albany would re-take the lead on a jumper from Lowrie to go up 45-44 with 8:34 remaining. Ruttle then made two free throws to give Canisius a lead it wouldn't relinquish for the rest of the game. Albany tied the game at 47-47, but Canisius used a 12-4 run during the next three-plus minutes to go up 59-51. The spurt included a three-point play from Morabito, a fast-break layup from junior Ashley Wilkes and a 3-pointer from Ruttle to give Canisius the eight-point lead.

Albany (6-5) wouldn't go away and back-to-back 3-pointers from Lowrie made it a one-point game, 61-60, with just over a minute remaining. On the next Canisius possession, Wilkes drained a turnaround jumper from the left block late in the shot clock to give Canisius a three-point lead with 23.5 seconds left. Albany came down and a 3-pointer from Lowrie hit the front rim. Ruttle split two free throws with 11.2 seconds remaining to put the game away.

Henry led all players with a double-double, totaling 20 points and 13 points to go along with four steals. Lowrie had 14 points for the Great Danes who shot 34.9 percent on the evening.

Canisius concludes its non-conference schedule on Wednesday, when the Golden Griffins host Cornell in the Koessler Athletic Center. Game time for the doubleheader is set for 5:15 p.m.

The Canisius-Albany game will be shown on Time Warner Sports on Friday, at 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 9 p.m., and Tuesday at 10 p.m.

Notes: Canisius and Albany met for the second time in program history, with the other meeting coming on Dec. 2, 2009, a 52-41 Canisius win... Canisius is .500 or better through 10 games for the sixth time in the last eight seasons... Durham had eight assists for the second consecutive game... Braun has now scored a five or more points in seven straight games, extending the longest streak of her career... Wilkes is now shooting 66.7 percent (18-for-27) in four home games this season... Ruttle is averaging 7.3 rebounds in the last three games and 16.0 points in the last four games... Lennox has scored six or more points in nine of the last 13 games... VandeBovenkamp had nine points in her first five appearances of the season combined... Canisius improved to 108-7 under Zeh when leading or tied with five minutes remaining... Canisius won for the 34^th time under Zeh in games decided by five points or fewer or games that go to overtime... Canisius rallied from a five-point halftime deficit to win for the 11^th time under Zeh... Durham is the first Golden Griffin to have eight assists in back-to-back games since Brittané Russell on Dec. 28 and 30, 2009... Canisius shot 80 percent or better from the free-throw line for the fourth time in five games.