BOX SCORE
DURHAM, N.H. – Junior guard Ilicia Mathis went into halftime without a bucket in three attempts but didn't waste time shooting in the second half making 6-of-8 in the second period to finish with 15 points as the Hawks scored a 57-50 road win over the New Hampshire Wildcats on Wednesday night in a snow covered Durham, N.H. The Hawks improve to 6-11 overall and 3-1 in America East play, while New Hampshire falls to 3-13 overall and remains winless in league play, 0-4.
Mathis, who was named Hartford's America East Player of the Game, joined two other guards in double figures for the game with senior Mary Silvia leading all Hawks with 16 points. Silvia finished the game shooting 5-of-13 from the field after missing four of her first five attempts of the game. Rounding out the leading scorers was Daphne Elliott who finished with 13 points. Elliott and Mathis each finished with three three pointers, while Silvia added two.
As a team, the Hawks finished the game shooting 33 percent overall (19-of-58), while the Wildcats led the way shooting 41 percent overall (20-of-49). Hartford finished with a total of eight three pointers in the game, while limiting New Hampshire to five three pointers, a team that shoots 37 percent from beyond the arc for the season.
Leading the Wildcats was junior Denise Beliveau who finished with a double double. The Wildcats America East Player of the Game finished with 19 points, leading all players in the game, and 10 rebounds.
Overall, the Hawks won the battle of the boards by a 37-35 margin with Mathis leading the way setting a new career-high with nine boards. Silvia and fellow classmate Jackie Smith each added five boards, while Smith led the team with five assists. Alex Hall added four assists. Smith also led the team with four steals, as the Hawks finished with 12 total steals tying their season high.
Neither team could manage much of a lead on each other through the first eight minutes, before the Wildcats opened up their largest lead of the game at 16-11. That lead came off of back-to-back layups from Kelsey Hogan and Beliveau.
The Hawks hit back-to-back baskets with 5:41 remaining to take their second lead of the half with a three pointer from Silvia. Neither team would score in the final 2:30 of the half, but prior to that the Wildcats managed two baskets with Hall scoring the only Hawks hoop in the final five minutes as the Hawks went into the break trailing 24-23.
Coming out of the break, the Hawks scored 11 of the first 13 points, while holding New Hampshire without a bucket for 8:34 spanning the end of the first half and the first six minutes of the second half. That drought allowed the Hawks to open up a 34-26 lead with 14:19 to play. The culmination of that run saw back-to-back three pointers from Mathis as she began to heat up.
A 7-0 run for the Wildcats allowed them to pull within one with 12:01 to play, but Hartford answered with a matching run to regain an eight point lead with 8:07 remaining. Silvia capped off the run with a three pointer.
Following a layup from Mathis, which gave the Hawks a 48-41 advantage, the Wildcats managed to hold the Hawks scoreless for almost four minutes as they rattled off another 7-0 run to tie the score on a three pointer from Beliveau with 3:11 remaining.
The Hawks defense then proved to be too much as they held the Wildcats without a bucket until there was less than 10 seconds on the clock. That final drought for the Wildcats paid off for the Hawks who connected on 7-of-8 from the free throw line in the final 2:30 to pull out the victory.
The Hawks will return to the Chase Family Arena on Monday, January 17, to host the Binghamton Bearcats at 7:00. The game will be the first of three conference games for the Hawks next week as they will also visit UMBC (Wednesday) and Boston University (Sunday).
