Stony Brook, NY ? The University of Hartford women's basketball team responded to its overtime loss to Boston University by using an 11-1 run in the second half to pull away from the Stony Brook Seawolves, leading to an eventual 79-56 win in Stony Brook, NY. Hartford was led by rookie guard Ilicia Mathis who scored a new career-high 20 points.

Hartford (17-10 overall, 12-2 AE) finished the game shooting 52 percent from the field (28-of-54), with three players finishing with double digits in the scoring column. Mathis led all players in the game, while Erica Beverly added 17 points and Lisa Etienne finished with 15 points. Mathis, who was named the America East Player of the Game, finished the game shooting 5-of-6 from the field and was 9-of-10 at the free throw line. Prior to her lone miss at the line, Mathis had made 26-straight free throws.

Etienne finished the game shooting 6-of-9 from the field, while Beverly was 5-of-11 from the field and also excelled at the free throw line, going 7-of-8. The Hawks lost the battle of the boards by a 35-33 margin, with Diana Delva leading all players with seven rebounds. One of the major differences in the game came in the disparity for points off turnovers, where Hartford took advantage of Stony Brook's 21 turnovers, scoring 24 points.

The Hawks never trailed in the game; however the Seawolves were able to tie the score on one occasion, 18 in the first half. Hartford opened the game with the first two baskets, jumpers from Katie Kelley and Beverly. Hartford had back-to-back baskets, a layup from Kacey Pratt and a three pointer from Mary Silvia, which put them up 14-8 with 10:59 to play. A 10-6 advantage for the Seawolves allowed them to get the only tie, coming off a Destiny Jacobs old fashioned three-point play.

Hartford responded by scoring five straight and nine of the next 11 points to take a 27-20 advantage with just over four minutes remaining in the first half. Back-to-back Seawolves baskets pulled them within three, but Hartford scored the final points of the half on a free throw and a layup from Jackie Smith on a put back at the buzzer to take a 37-31 advantage into the locker room.

Hartford came out of the break and quickly opened up their first double digit lead, 43-33 on a three pointer from Etienne. Stony Brook was going to go away easily, scoring an 8-2 run, which pulled them within three, 47-43, with 14:30 to play. The Hawks were forced to take a timeout with 8:32 to play, down by four, 49-45. Coming out of that timeout, the Hawks scored 10 unanswered points, including eight from Mathis on two layups, a free throw and a three pointer.

The Hawks pulled the lead out of reach with an 11-1 run spanning three minutes to take a 74-52 advantage with 3:31 to play. The run saw six points from Etienne, three from Mathis and a layup from Smith off a back-door feed from Pratt. Hartford's biggest lead of the game came at 78-53, following a Pratt layup and a Delva layup.

Hartford returns home to take on the Vermont Catamounts on Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. at Chase Arena at the Reich Family Pavilion. Hartford rallied back from a 15-point second half deficit to defeat the Catamounts in Burlington in January.