BOX SCORE
Fairfield, CT – The University of Hartford women's basketball team used hot hands in the second half to storm back from a 13-point half time deficit to win 68-53 at Sacred Heart on Tuesday night. The Hawks improve to 5-1 overall, while Sacred Heart stands at 3-3 overall.
The Hawks used a 68 percent second half shooting display to storm back and outscore the Pioneers 47-19 in the final 20 minutes. Hartford finished with three players in double figures, led by senior post Diana Delva who finished with a game-best 17 points. Joining her was Erica Beverly and Mary Silva who each added 13 points.
The Hawks also finished with a 38-30 advantage on the boards, after trailing by one at the break. Leading the Hawks rebounding efforts was Beverly with seven. All but one of the 10 Hawks players finished with at least one rebound. Beverly's defense also shone through with four blocks, the third-straight game the senior has blocked four shots.
Hartford came out of the break and held the Pioneers without a basket for the first 17:36, scoring five unanswered points in that stretch. Sacred Heart answered with back-to-back baskets from Kiley Evans, broken up by an Ilicia Mathis layup, to extend its lead back to 11, 39-28 with 16:18 to play.
Hartford answered those two baskets with 15-0 run, which gave Hartford its first lead. The run saw five different players score, including back-to-back layups from Beverly and a jumper and three pointer from Silvia to start the run and end the run.
The Pioneers weren't going to rest, scoring seven of the next nine points to retake the lead 46-45 with 9:12 remaining. Hartford responded with a 13-2 run, which all came from the post including 11 from Delva. The run allowed Hartford to take its first double digit advantage with just over five minutes to play.
Hartford extended its lead to as much as 14 in the final minutes, that lead coming off back-to-back three pointers from Daphne Elliott and Silvia.
Hartford's first half shooting never heated up as the Hawks finished the first half shooting 8-of-28 from the field (28.6 percent), while allowing the home team to shoot 50 percent on their own floor. The Pioneers took advantage of the hot shooting from outside the arc, hitting 4-of-6 from long range for 66.7 percent.
After Sacred Heart opened the game to an 8-2 lead, Hartford answered by pulling within one at 10-9 using a three pointer from Silvia. The Pioneers weren't going away in the early minutes, extending that lead back to eight with 10:42 on a layup from Maureen Reilly and a jumper from Maggie Cosgrove.
Hartford would pull within two, using a 5-0 run over a two minute span, but the Pioneers stormed right back with 10 unanswered points, including a pair of three pointers, to extend their lead to 30-18 with 3:45 remaining before the break. A jumper from Alisa Apo gave the Pioneers their biggest lead, 13 points, 34-21, which it remained until the break.
The women's basketball team will continue a three-game road stand with a match-up at St. Joseph's in Philadelphia on Friday at 7:00 p.m.
