Vestal, NY ? The University of Hartford women's basketball team, behind five players in double figures, extended its winning streak to 11 games with a 73-66 win on the road at Binghamton University on Saturday afternoon. Hartford improves to 20-7 (13-1 America East) on the season, the third-straight 20-or-more win season for the Hawks.
Four of the Hawks starters finished in double figures, five total for the first time this season. Danielle Hood led the Hawks with 18 points and was named the America East Player of the Game. She finished the game shooting 7-of-11 from the field and 4-of-6 at the free throw line. She also added five rebounds and three assists. Joining hood in double figures was Lisa Etienne with 14, MaryLynne Schaefer with 13 and Ikea Witt and Diana Delva each with 11.
The Bearcats (10-17, 6-8 America East) restructured their defense at the break after allowing the Hawks to shoot 51.6 percent from the field in the first half (16-of-31). Binghamton held the Hawks to just 25 percent from the field in the second half, 38.1 percent for the game on 24-of-63. Laine Kurpniece led the Bearcats with 18 points, 16 of which came in the second half, including nine-straight for the junior center.
After allowing six unanswered points for the Binghamton Bearcats to open the game, Hartford, behind the early hot hand of Schaefer, took a 14-point advantage, 39-25, into the locker room at the break. Schaefer scored eight of the first 14 points for Hartford, which was led in the first half by Etienne, who finished with 11 points.
The Hawks put up their biggest first half offensive output of the season, 39 points and their largest overall point total in conference play. Hood and Schaefer finished the first half with nine and eight points respectively. The Hawks defense, ranked third in the nation, held the Bearcats to 34.6 percent shooting (9-of-26) and forced them into nine turnovers.
The Bearcats had seven of their first 11 second half points come at the free throw line, allowing the Hawks to take a 53-36 lead. Hood and Schaefer extended their point totals into double digits during the early moments of the second half. Hood scored the Hawks first basket of the half on a layup with 34 seconds off the clock. Schaefer then hit her third three pointer of the half with 17:08 to play.
Binghamton wasn't going to rest, down 51-32 the Bearcats used a 12-2 run to pull within single digits, 53-44. Laine Kurpniece was the Bearcats threat during the run scoring nine of the 12 points, including nine-straight. Five-straight points from Shea Kenny, a 18-foot jumper and a three, put the Bearcats within six, 57-51 with 6:30 to play.
The Bearcats would get as close as five, 60-55, with 4:23 to play on back-to-back baskets from Kurpniece and Juta Jahilo. Hood scored on a jumper with 3:49 to play to break the mini-streak and the Bearcats then pulled their deficit to four with 1:39 to play on a Brianna Thompson jumper. Free throws down the stretch for the Hawks would clinch the victory including three from Witt and a pair from Schaefer.
Hartford will return to Chase Arena at the Reich Family Pavilion for its final home game of the season, hosting Maine on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. Prior to the game, Hartford will honor its three seniors Ikea Witt, Danielle Matulis and Kate DiDonato.
