No. 1 seed Albany holds off Stony Brook 70-46 to win America East and 3rd straight NCAA berth

Stony Brook forward Brittany Snow (20) and Albany forward Shereesha Richards (25), of Jamaica, battle for a rebound during the first half of an NCAA America East college championship basketball game on Monday, March 10, 2014, in Albany, N.Y. (AP Photo/Mike Groll) (The Associated Press)

Stony Brook forward Brittany Snow (20) grabs the ball in front of Albany defenders Imani Tate (12) and Sarah Royals (4) during the first half of an NCAA America East college championship basketball game on Monday, March 10, 2014, in Albany, N.Y. (AP Photo/Mike Groll) (The Associated Press)

ALBANY, N.Y. – Shereesha Richards had 26 points, Sarah Royals added 19 points and eight assists, and top-seeded Albany beat second-seeded Stony Brook 70-46 on Monday to win the America East title and earn the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.

It was the third straight America East tournament title for Albany (28-4), only the fourth team to accomplish the three-peat. Maine holds the record with four, ending in 1998.

Albany leads the all-time series with Stony Brook 28-22, including nine of the last 10, but the Seawolves (24-8) took the previous game, a 66-56 win at SEFCU Arena on March 1 that snapped Albany's conference-record 38-game winning streak over two seasons.

Stony Brook has never won the America East Conference title.