West Hartford, CT ? The University of Hartford women's basketball team picked up a 65-47 victory over Stony Brook University to retain sole possession of first place in the America East standings. Hartford was led by Diana Delva who recorded her first career double double and back-to-back career highs with 24 points. The Hawks improve to 15-7 overall and are now 8-1 in conference action, while the Seawolves drop to 11-10 overall and 7-2 in conference action.
Delva finished with only one missed basket from the field, 8-of-9 overall. She added 13 rebounds, three shy of her career high in rebounding. She also added a pair of blocks and finished 8-of-9 from the free throw line. Delva was named the Nestle Purina ONE Player of the Game for her efforts. The Hawks needed a strong second half after shooting just 29.2 percent from the field in the first half (7-of-24). Hartford finished the second half 14-of-24 from the field for 58.3 percent.
The strong second half was apparent from Ikea Witt, who scored 14 of her 17 points in the second half. Danielle Hood also finished in double digits for the Hawks with 15 points; she now stands 27 points shy of being the second player this season to reach the 1,000 points plateau. Witt also added nine rebounds, tying her season best, and five rebounds to her credit, while grabbing a pair of steals and a pair of assists. She finished the game shooting 5-of-9 from the field and 7-of-9 from the free throw line.
The Hawks continued to show that statistics can be a tell tale sign. This season the Hawks are 12-0 when holding their opponents to 50 or fewer points. They are also 11-1 overall when scoring 60 or more points and 9-1 when three or more players score in double figures. Stony Brook did capitalize on the boards with a 44-37 advantage led by Dana Ferraro and Leah Getz, each finishing with eight. Mykeema Ford led the Seawolves with 22 points and was named the America East Player of the Game for Stony Brook.
The Hawks trailed by as much as nine in the first half and didn't score their first basket of the game until seven minutes in when Delva connected on a layup off an offensive board. The Hawks began the game missing their first 10 shots. Hartford then showed why they are ranked 13th in the nation in scoring defense, holding the Seawolves without a basket for the final 4:12 of the half, allowing them to go on a 14-0 run to end the half and take a 23-18 advantage into the locker room at the break.
The Hawks run was extended to 18-0 with the first two baskets of the second half in favor of Hartford. Ford broke the scoring drought for the Seawolves with a three pointer just under two minutes into the second stanza. The Hawks then used a 7-0 run to take a 15 points lead and barely looked back. The run featured baskets from Delva, Witt and Courtney Gomez.
The Hawks will be back in action when they travel to New Hampshire on Wednesday for a 7:00 p.m. game in Durham, N.H.
