West Hartford, CT - The University of Hartford women's basketball team picked up its fourth conference victory in an 81-67 win against Stony Brook on Saturday afternoon at Chase Arena at the Reich Family Pavilion. The Hawks improved their overall record to 9-8 (4-1 in the America East), while the Seawolves dropped to 2-15 with an 0-5 record in conference play. 

Leading the Hawks starting five, who all scored in double figures, was freshman Ilicia Mathis who scored 16 points. Junior forward's Erica Beverly and Diana Delva both finished with a double double. Delva finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds, while also blocking a career-high five shots. Beverly finished the game with 12 points and 10 boards to go along with three assists and two blocks, with which she broke the all-time school record for career blocks, currently with 106. Delva shot 7-of-8 from the field to lead the team. Beverly was named the Nestle Purina ONE America East Player of the Game.  

Rounding out the Hawks leading scorers was senior's Lisa Etienne and MaryLynne Schaefer who both finished with 13 points. The two also combined for seven assists, with Etienne leading the team with three.

As a team, the Hawks shot 55 percent in the first half (16-of-29) but took just a 14-point lead into the locker room at the break. Hartford finished the game shooting 45 percent from the field (25-of-56). Stony Brook's shooting heated up in the second 20 minutes, where they shot 47 percent from the floor (25-of-61). For the game, they shot 41 percent (25-of-61), with Jodie Plikus leading the team with a career-high 23 points in her third game back in the starting five.

Hartford led by as much as 23 points before the Seawolves hot shooting returned for the final 10 minutes of the second half. The Hawks free throw shooting in the final minutes cemented the victory. For the game, the hawks shot 82 percent at the free throw line (27-of-33), while the Seawolves struggled from the charity stripe, connecting on 10-of-18.

Hartford returns to action on Tuesday for its first televised conference game of the season at Vermont. The Hawks and Catamounts will knot-up at 7:30 p.m. in Burlington, VT. The Catamounts were the preseason favorite to win the America East Championship, in a vote of the conference's head coaches.