West Hartford, CT ? Senior Ikea Witt showed that she deserved at least one more home game, leading the Hawks with 25 points, a season high, and the most by any Hawks player this season. Hartford defeated Bucknell (20-11 overall) 70-54 in the opening round of the postseason Women's NIT at Chase Arena at the Reich Family Pavilion.
Hartford (25-8 overall) advances to play South Carolina in the second round of the WNIT on Sunday at 5:00 p.m. in Columbia, S.C. South Carolina received a bye through the first round and has not played since March 2, when they fell to Tennessee in the Southeastern Conference tournament.
With tonight's win Hartford becomes the first America East team to record postseason wins in back-to-back seasons, and The Hawks victory also marks the first America East win in the WNIT since Vermont recorded two victories in 2002. With the win, Hartford reaches the 25-win plateau for back-to-back seasons, and is just the third team in league history to accomplish that feat.
Witt struggled to get going in the first few minutes, missing her first shot and turning the ball over two-straight times, but once she scored her first basket with nine minutes to play in the first half she was virtually unstoppable. She would score on her next three shots, while hitting a pair of free throws and grabbing a rebound, closing out the first half with eight points. She then came out of the halftime break and hit her first three attempts, two on fast breaks, extending the Hawks lead to double digits, 37-24 with just 1:10 played in the second.
Also fairing well for the Hawks in the first half was Lisa Etienne who finished with eight points, tying Witt for the team lead in the first twenty minutes. Jamie McCabe also added six points, while Diana Delva added four points and three rebounds.
The Hawks extended their lead to as much as 22 points in the second half with two players finishing in double digits. The 25 points for Witt is the first time this season a player has scored 25 or more points and the first time since Danielle Hood scored 30 points against Albany on January 7 last season. Joining Witt in double figures was Hood, who finished with 11 points.
The Hawks shot 56.5 percent (13-of-23) from the field in the second half, 46.2 percent (24-of-52) for the game, the most for Hartford since January 20. Witt finished the game hitting 11-of-her-14 attempts, tying her career best for field goals made. Hartford also won the battle of the boards, 29-28, with Etienne leading the team in that category with five.
The Bison shot 34 percent (18-of-53) for the game and was led by Lauren Schober and Hope Foster, both with double figures. Schober finished with 11 points, while Foster added 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting. Foster also finished with a game-best eight rebounds.
