Albany, NY ? The Hawks defense and an impressive afternoon from the field propelled the Hartford women's basketball team to post its largest margin of victory in a conference game with a 60-42 road victory at University at Albany on Saturday afternoon. The Hawks improve to 11-7 overall and 4-1 in conference play with the win, while Albany drops to 7-12 overall and 3-3 in America East action.
The Hawks were led for the third-straight game by Danielle Hood (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.), who finished with 17 points and 7 rebounds. Hood finished 8-of-15 from the field, leading the Hawks to a 44.6 shooting effort (25-of-56), the third conference game shooting better than 40-percent. Hood was named the American East Player of the Game for her performance. The Great Danes had Charity Iromuanya named the America East Player of the game, after finishing with 10 points, all coming in the second half.
“To be able to go on the road and play with a high intensity separates you from other teams,” said head coach Jennifer Rizzotti. “We played a solid game defensively, coming into the game focusing our attention on defense. I felt we were very prepared for Albany, especially after their win over Vermont.”
Hartford took a 19-point advantage into the half time break, using a pair of runs (8-0 and 11-0), while holding the Great Danes to only eight first half points, the lowest for a Hawks opponent this season. Hartford's defense was impressive in the first twenty minutes, holding the Great Danes to the lowest field goal percentage (12.0 percent on 3-of-25) in at least two seasons. Hartford held the Fairfield Stags to 12.5 percent last season (5-of-40).
The Hawks had a balanced scoring attack in the first half with six players scoring, led by Hood who finished with eight points on 4-of-9 shooting. The Hawks shot 21.4 percent in the first half on 12-of-29. Hartford also won the battle of the boards in the first stanza with a 25-14 advantage, led by Katie Kelley (Syracuse, N.Y.) and Lisa Etienne (Norwalk, Conn.), both with five.
Both teams struggled from the floor in the early going, combining for 2-of-12 in the first 4:30. Following a scheduled timeout the Hawks began to warm-up, taking a 10-2 lead, made possible with an 8-0 run. The run featured four different Hawks scoring. A second Hartford run of 11 unanswered points, which was extended to 14-2 to end the half allowed the Hawks to take their first double digit advantage, 19 to end the half (27-8).
After a minute of trading baskets, the Hawks rattled off six-straight points to pull ahead by more than 20 for the first time in the game with just over 16 minutes to play. The Great Danes saw their first run of eight-straight pull the lead to 15, with 12:24 to play. That run saw back-to-back three-point plays the old fashioned way.
The Hawks advantage saw its second time in the 20's, following a 6-0 run that featured a four-point play from MaryLynne Schaefer (Centreville, Va.) who connected on a 23 footer and a subsequent free throw.
The Hawks welcome Binghamton for a Wednesday night America East match-up at Chase Arena at the Reich Family Pavilion. The Hawks and Bearcats are scheduled to tip off at 7:00 p.m.
