BOX SCORE

WEST HARTFORD, CONN. – The University of Hartford women's basketball team snapped a six-game losing streak, the longest since the 1994-95 season, with a 74-43 victory over the Dartmouth Big Green on Sunday afternoon. The Hawks improve to 2-9 overall on the season and were led by sophomore Nikkia Smith who finished with a career-high 14 points.

Smith was one of three Hartford played to finish in double figures, joined by Mary Silvia with 13 points  and Alex Hall with 11 points. Smith finished the game shooting an impressive 5-of-7 from the field, while Silvia and Hall combined to go 9-of-18 for the game. Silvia also finished with three three pointers and led the team with seven rebounds, tying her career high.

As a team, the Hawks second half shooting troubles disappeared as they shot 62.1 percent (18-of-29) in the second period, to finish with a season best 45 points in the second half. For the game, Hartford shot 42.2 percent from the field (27-of-64), while committing a season low nine turnovers and scoring more than 70 points for the first time this season.

The Hawks never trailed in the game for the first time this season, opening the scoring with a jump shot from rookie Taylor Clark just under two minutes into the game. The Big Green would manage to tie the score twice in the early minutes before a 13-2 run for the Hawks opened up the first double digit lead of the game at 17-16 with 9:13 to play. The run saw three three pointers for the Hawks, two from Silvia and one from freshman Alyssa Englert.

The Big Green scored just three more buckets in the first half as the Hawks used an 8-0 run to open up their largest lead in the first half 29-11 with 1:30 to play before the break. Smith capped off the run with four-straight points on a second-chance layup and a pair of free throws. Dartmouth would finish the first half with just 13 points, the lowest of any Hawks opponent this season and the lowest scoring half for the Big Green this season.

The Big Green couldn't muster much of a run until midway through the second half. The Hawks took advantage in the early part of the half scoring 11-straight, including back-to-back buckets from Hall to take a 44-17 lead with 15:12 to play.

Dartmouth's first run at the Hawks spanned three-plus minutes in the middle of the half and amounted to a 6-0 scamper. Hall then responded to a more than four minute scoring drought by scoring back-to-back buckets for the second time to extend the Hawks lead back to 53-29 with7:12 remaining.

The Hawks would then put the game out of reach with a 10-0 run that spanned two minutes and gave the Hawks a 65-36 advantage with just under three minutes remaining. A pair of free throws would push the Hawks over 70 points for the game and then a three pointer from Ilicia Mathis gave Hartford its largest margin of victory of the season and match the Big Green's largest margin of defeat all season.

The Hawks will return to action on December 22 following a 10-day break for final exams. Hartford will next play at Hofstra in the final game before the Holiday's. The Hawks and Pride are scheduled to tip-off at 2:00 p.m.