Baltimore, MD - The University of Hartford women's basketball team guaranteed their third straight regular season championship with a 78-68 decision over the UMBC Retrievers on Saturday night at the RAC Arena in Baltimore, MD. The Hawks close out the regular season with a 24-5 overall record and a 14-2 mark in conference play, while UMBC falls to 9-20 overall and 5-11 in AE action.
The Hawks were led by the Nestle Purina ONE America East Player of the Game Danielle Hood who matched her season best with 28 points on a 13-for-19 effort from the field. She also connected on her two free throw attempts and grabbed five rebounds. She led three players in double figures with MaryLynne Schaefer adding 16 points and Erica Beverly with 10.
Schaefer finished the game shooting 4-of-7 from the field with all four of her baskets going for three pointers; she also finished the game 4-of-4 at the free throw line. Beverly never missed a basket in the game connecting on all four of her attempts. Jamie McCabe, shining in all aspects tonight, hit a pair of three pointers but managed eight assists to set a career high. Hartford finished the game with 19 assists as a team.
The Hawks shot 47 percent for the game (29-of-62), including a second half effort of 56 percent (19-of-34). The Retrievers also shot well for the game, connecting on 51 percent of their shots (27-of-47), including a second half effort of 29 percent (13-of-22). Chantay Frazies led the Retrievers, tying her career high with 26 points on an impressive 10-of-13 from the field. Joining her in double figures was Amanda Robinson with 15 and Kristin Drabyn with 13. Robinson connection form the outside with four three pointers, one more than she had for the season entering the game.
Hartford will open its quest for the third America East Championship in four years with a 6:00 p.m. game in the quarterfinals of the America East Championship Presented by Friendship Cottage Cheese. Hartford will face the winner of the first round game between Stony Brook and Maine on Friday at 6:00 p.m. at Chase Arena.
The Retrievers used the momentum of senior night to take a two point lead into the locker room, after leading by as much as four on four different occasions in the first 20 minutes. After trailing by nine early in the first half, the Retrievers used a 10-0 run, which included three long range baskets, two from Robinson, to take their first lead of the game 14-13.
Hartford came out of the break and allowed UMBC to extend its lead back to four with a Drabyn layup 17 seconds into the action. The Hawks answered by scoring six straight to take a two point advantage and then used a 15-2 run spanning six minutes to open up a double digit lead, the first of the game at 56-46 with 7:26 remaining.
UMBC would pull within five in the closing minutes, but Hartford capitalized with three free throws and a break away layup from Hood with 13 second remaining to seal the victory and the outright America East Championship, the third straight.
