Smith played 14 minutes, coming off the bench and went 1 for 5 from the field, picked up 3 offensive and 2 defensive rebounds and added a steal to the victory. Photo: Provided

Leslee Smith and the Huskers made it seven wins in a row with the 54-47 victory over Northwestern. Photo: Provided

The seven game home conference win streak is NU’s longest since an eight-game streak spanning the 1981-82 and 1982-83 season. Photo: Provided

The UAlbany women’s basketball team’s historic 38-game America East winning streak came to a close on Saturday in a 66-56 home defeat to Stony Brook.

“It is a tough loss; it is a wakeup call for everyone,” says UAlbany head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson. “We are going to be tougher and meaner for the upcoming tournament.”

The last time UAlbany had fallen in a conference game was on January 28, 2012.

“It was going to end sometime, but what matters is that we are the 1-seed in the tournament,” said Abrahamson-Henderson.

UAlbany (25-4, 15-1 AE), as the 1-seed in the 2014 America East Tournament, will take on 8-seed Binghamton on Friday at 6 p.m. Stony Brook (22-7, 13-3 AE) secured the two-seed with the win.

Phillips who played 33 minutes went just 1 of 6 from the field, missed an attempted 3 from down town and also missed on her only visit to the charity line. She did, however, pick up 2 offensive and 8 defensive rebounds as well as 5 assists.

Elsewhere

Leslee Smith and the University of Nebraska Huskers looked to Shavon Shields who had 17 points and 10 rebounds, coupled with another stellar defensive effort to top  Northwestern, 54-47 Saturday afternoon.

Shields led three Huskers in double figures with 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor to pace three Huskers in double figures. The sophomore, who recorded his second double of the season, had 13 if his points in the second half, as Nebraska built an 11-point lead and held on in the final minutes.

Smith played 14 minutes, coming off the bench and went 1 for 5 from the field, picked up 3 offensive and 2 defensive rebounds and added a steal to the victory.

Shields scored five of his points in a 13-5 surge after Northwestern pulled to within 36-33, as the Huskers (17-11, 9-7 B1G) built an 11-point lead after Shields’ 3-point play with 3:46 left.

Northwestern (12-17, 5-11) made one last charge behind Alex Olah, who scored a game-high 20 points in the loss. The 7-footer scored six straight points to make it 49-44 with 2:03 left before Shields stemmed the tide with a jumper to push the lead back to seven.

The seven game home conference win streak is NU’s longest since an eight-game streak spanning the 1981-82 and 1982-83 season. It is also the 11th time in school history Nebraska has had a seven-game conference home win streak.