BOX SCORE

Philadelphia, PA – The Hartford women's basketball team fell to 1-9 overall with a 63-45 road loss to Temple on Friday night at McGonigle Hall. The Hawks were led by two players who recorded double figures in the game, both sophomores, Daphne Elliott and Nikkia Smith. Elliott's 12 points, which led the Hawks is the sixth game in double figures for the guard from Fairfield, Conn.

Hartford finished the game shooting 34.6 percent (18-of-52), suffering from the field in the second half where they shot just 29 percent on 7-of-24. The Hawks opened the game shooting 39 percent (11-of-28) in the first 20 minutes. Smith completed her second game as a college player with 11 points. All nine players who saw time for the Hawks finished with at least two points.

Senior guards Jackie Smith and Mary Silvia each added five points for the Hawks. Both Elliott and Nikkia Smith finished the game shooting 5-of-12 from the field with Elliott going 2-of-5 from beyond the arc. The Hawks also dropped the battle of the boards by a 36-33 margin with Nikkia Smith leading the team with seven boards. Elliott added six rebounds for the Hawks.

The ninth loss in 10 games marks the worst start for the Hawks under head coach Jennifer Rizzotti. The loss is one more than the Hawks opened the 2002-03 season with. The Hawks went on to finish the 2002-03 season with a 7-21 overall record.

After the Owls opened the game with the first points on a layup from Shey Peddy off a Hawks turnovers, Hartford answered by scoring the next two buckets and took a lead they would hold through the first 10 minutes of the game. The Hawks largest margin would come on a three pointer from Silvia with 9:51 remaining before the break. That bucket form Silvia would be the last for Hartford for the next five minutes.

That scoring drought allowed Temple to take a lead and extend that lead with a 10-0 run that gave the home team a 23-15 advantage. The Owls would never look back from that lead. The Hawks would get as close as four points before the end of the first half on back-to-back layups from Elliott and freshman Milana Gilbert.

Following the intermission, the Hawks looked to make a run after hitting a jumper from Nikkia Smith and a three pointer from Mary Silvia back-to-back but following a Temple timeout the Owls scored 11 of the next 12 points to take their largest lead to that point 48-33.

Hartford would cut it back to a 12 point deficit with just over 10 minutes remaining in the game, but Temple responded by scoring nine of the next 12 points to take a 58-40 lead with under six minutes remaining.

Hartford returns to the Chase Family Arena for their final home game in 2010 when they welcome the Dartmouth Big Green to West Hartford on Sunday. The game will be the third in six days for the Hawks. The tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.