West Hartford, CT ? The University of Hartford women's basketball team posted its largest margin of victory this season with an 82-34 win over the Maine Black Bears at Chase Arena at the Reich Family Pavilion on Saturday afternoon. The Hawks were led by their junior forward/center, Diana Delva, who finished with 15 points, six rebounds, five blocks, three steals and two assists. Hartford improves to 13-8 overall and 8-1 in America East play.

The 48 point margin of victory is the first time Hartford has outscored an opponent by 40 or more points since November 29, 1994 (vs. Columbia, 71-28) and is the most Hartford has won by in its Division I era (since 1984-85). In the 33-year history of the Hartford women's basketball program, the Hawks have only outscored an opponent by more than 48 points on two occasions, versus St. Joseph's-CT 105-27 (1979-80) and versus St. Joseph's-CT 81-25 (1978-79).

Delva, who was named the Nestle Purina ONE America East Player of the Game, was one of three Hawks players in double figures. Leading all scorers was senior guard MaryLynne Schaefer who finished with 16 points, including four three pointers. Rounding out the leading scorers was junior forward Erica Beverly with 11 points.

Delva finished the game shooting 6-of-8 from the field and her five blocks ties her career-high. It is also the second game in a row that a Hawks player has recorded five or more blocks. As a team, the Hawks finished the game shooting 57 percent from the field (34-of-60), not shooting less than 56 percent in either half. That shooting percentage is a season-high for Hartford and is the highest the Hawks have shot throughout the career of the current senior class.

Hartford got off to a sluggish start, hitting only five of its first 15 shot attempts, but then converted on all but two of the next 13, taking a 39-15 advantage into the break. The Hawks used a 25-3 run, which included 17-striaght unanswered points, to blow open its lead to 35-12 with 1:52 to play before the break.

in the second half, the Hawks again took advantage of a Maine drought, scoring 18 unanswered points to open its lead to 64-19 with 12:34 to play in the game. The Hawks biggest lead of the game came in the final minutes when they took an 82-32 advantage on a three-point play with 27 seconds remaining by Briana Winston. The Black Bears (2-20 overall, 0-9 America East) would put the final tally on the scoreboard, a layup from Tanna Ross with 16 tics to play.

Maine was led by their America East Player of the game, Kristin Baker, who finished with eight points and five rebounds. She suffered 10 turnovers, with the team committing 23 total. Hartford turned those 23 turnovers into 31 points. Hartford also won the battle of the boards by a 40-34 advantage and outscored the Black Bears 34-12 in the paint.

Hartford returns to action on Wednesday night at Binghamton University for a 7:00 p.m. showdown. The Hawks defeated Binghamton 63-54 in the conference opener back on January 7 at Chase Arena at the Reich Family Pavilion.