West Hartford, CT ? The University of Hartford women's basketball team improved to 6-1 in conference play (11-8 overall), knocking off the Albany Great Danes in convincing fashion, 73-47 at Chase Arena at the Reich Family Pavilion on Saturday night. The Hawks were led by the Nestle Purina ONE America East Player of Game Diana Delva who finished with a game-high 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting.

Delva was one of two players in double figures for Hartford with fellow classmate Erica Beverly adding 11 points. Beverly also led the team in rebounding with seven boards, followed by Delva with six. For the game, Hartford shot 44 percent, 25-of-59, with the Great Danes shooting 41 percent from the field (20-of-49).

The teams finished in a deadlock in the rebounding race with 33 each. Tabitha Makopondo led all players with nine rebounds and also led the Great Danes in scoring with 12 points. Hartford forced Albany into 26 turnovers, turning those miscues into 26 points. Hartford, as a team, finished the second half perfect from the free throw line, 11-of-11.

The Hawks opened the game to an early 8-2 lead, with a 6-0 run spanning just under two minutes. After putting the lead back at six, 12-6 with 11:03 to play in the first half, the Great Danes than rattled off six-straight to tie the game at 12 with 8:53 before the break.

Hartford then battled back to a 24-15 lead with 1:23 to play, using a eight point run with four points from Delva, two from Beverly and a jumper from Katie Kelley off a feed from Mary Silvia. Hartford took a 26-20 advantage into the break.

Coming out of halftime, the teams traded the first four points of the half before Hartford blasted the game wide open with a 21-0 run, which used 7:18 of the game clock. That run was extended to 25-3, with the only Great Danes basket in a eight minute stretch, a three pointer from Britney McGee with 10:30 to play.

Hartford then extended its lead to more than 30 points using a 11-0 run, which again took more a large chunk of time off the clock, three minutes. That run was capped off with a Jenna Peterson three pointer, which put Hartford up by its largest margin, 66-29 with 5:58 to play.

The Great Danes closed out the game with a 14-3 run, but could get no closer than 70-45. Makopondo, who was named Albany's America East Player of the Game, scored 10 of the Great Danes final 16 points. The final basket of the game for Hartford was a second three pointer for Peterson, which gave her a career-high with six points.

Hartford will close out the first half of the conference schedule with a Wednesday night match-up at New Hampshire. Tip is schedule for 7:00 p.m. in Durham, NH.