West Hartford, CT – The #21/23 University of Hartford women's basketball team will compete for its fifth America East Championship on Saturday, March 13 at 8:00 p.m. Hartford (27-3 overall, 16-0 America East) advanced to the title game of the 2010 America East Championship presented by Newman's Own with a 65-43 win over Stony Brook in the semifinals at Chase Family Arena at the Reich Family Pavilion.

Senior forward Erica Beverly set a milestone in the Hawks semifinal victory, becoming the first Hartford player to ever score at least 1,000 career points and grab at least 1,000 career rebounds. Beverly led all players in the game with 10 boards, while finishing with eight points and two steals.

The Hawks advance to their sixth championship game in school history and first since 2008. Overall, Hartford is 4-1 when playing in the title game, with all four victories coming on their home floor. Hartford and Vermont will meet for the Championship, which marks the first time since the 2000 season that the top two seeds will play for the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. It is also the first time that Hartford and Vermont will face each other in the title game.

Hartford's bench did the leg work as the Hawks reserves outscored Stony Brook 44-0, with the top two leading scorers coming off the pine. Mary Silvia led Hartford with 17 points on 5-of-7 from the field, including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. She also finished 3-of-4 at the free throw line. Also in double figures for Hartford was Daphne Elliott who finished with 13 points on 4-of-10 from the field and 5-of-7 at the free throw line.

Diana Delva and Ilicia Mathis round out the leading scorers, both finishing with nine points. The Hawks finished the game shooting 38.5 percent (20-of-52) from the field, with a 45.8 percent (11-of-24) effort in the first half. As a team, the Hawks outrebounded their opponent 44-32 and led the Seawolves in every statistical category. Hartford finished with a 24-18 advantage in points in the paint, a 15-11 advantage in points off turnovers, a 13-2 advantage in seconds chance points and led fast break points 6-4.

Tickets for the 2010 America East Championship game are currently available at the University of Hartford Malcolm & Brenda Berman Athletics Box Office or online at HartfordHawksTickets.com. For more information call the box office at (860) 768-HAWK (4-2-9-5).