Honolulu, HI ? The University of Hartford women's basketball team opened up play at the 29th Annual Jack in the Box Rainbow Wahine Classic with an 83-74 victory over the UAB Blazers. Danielle Hood led the Hawks, matching her season best with 27 points on 12-of-19 shooting. The Hawks improve to 4-1 overall, while UAB is now 1-3. “Our goal coming out here was to put our selves in a position to try and win a championship and now we are one game closer to that goal,” said head coach Jennifer Rizzotti.
“I am really happy with the win over what I feel is going to be a really good team this year,” continued Rizzotti. “Our post play was phenomenal and I was really pleased with how well our guards took care of the ball against their pressure.”
The Hawks finished the game shooting 49.2 percent (32-of-65) from the field. Diana Delva had the hottest hand for Hartford connecting on six of her eight shots. She finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds, the first player to grab double digit rebounds this season, also the first double double of the season. MaryLynne Schaefer added 16 points, while Erica Beverly added 12, rounding out the Hawks leading scorers. Beverly finished the game shooting 4-of-5 and a perfect 4-of-4 at the free throw line.
Hartford led the rebounding battle with 29 rebounds, compared to 37 for the Blazers. Hood added seven boards, while Schaefer added five. Eight of Delva's rebounds were offensive boards. The Hawks scored 13 points on second chances, while UAB added nine. Hartford finished the game with just eight turnovers, the lowest for the season. The Blazers took advantage of all eight turnovers, scoring eight points off of them.
For the second-straight game, the Hawks free throw shooting helped lead to victory. Hartford finished with a 16-of-21 effort at the free throw line. Beverly and Schaefer each finished perfect from the stripe with four each, while Hood and Lisa Etienne each missed one free throw, finishing with three makes. The Blazers were led by Brittany Jones, who finished with 21 points.
Hartford opened the game to a 10-4 advantage, before the Blazers scored seven straight to take an 11-10 advantage. Hartford answered with a five point run to take a four point advantage with 11:03 to play before the break. All five of those points came from Delva After a UAB three pointers, the Hawks rattled off nine straight to extend their lead to double digits, the only time it would get to 10, 26-16 with 8:42 to play. During that run, Schafer added a three ball and a jumper.
UAB scored 11 of the next 13 points to pull within one. Hartford answered with an old fashioned three point play for Hood. Hartford then saw an other layup from Hood and a three pointer from Jamie McCabe, which was the final Hawks basket of the half, with 2:22 to play. The Blazers scored five more points in the half, but the Hawks held tough for a two point advantage for the half.
The Blazers came out of the break scoring the first two baskets to take a two point advantage within the first minute. Hood scored the Hawks first nine points of the half before Schaefer got in on the action with a jumper with 14:18 to play. Following a Jonyce Hollins layup just under the 14 minute mark, the Blazers used an 11-2 run to take a four-point advantage, their biggest of the game.
Hartford answered back minutes later with seven straight points to retake the lead at 60-57 with 7:45 to play. UAB battled to tie the score 1:22 later on a Jones layup and free throw. Hartford then rattled off six-straight to take a 68-62 advantage with 5:12 to play.
After trading baskets for the next two minutes, Hartford extended its lead to nine with a three pointer from Schaefer and free throws from Delva and Etienne. UAB would chip into the lead with a layup and three pointer 16 seconds a part but wouldn't score again. Hartford scored the final five points of the game, all on free throws to take home the nine-point victory.
Hartford will play the winner of the Hawaii versus Lipscomb which is currently underway. That game will be on Saturday with a time to be determined. Check HartfordHawks.com for the latest information.
