BOX SCORE
ORLANDO, Fla. – Behind strong freshmen performances and down the stretch toughness lead to 55-46 win over the host Central Florida Black Knights on Saturday at The Venue. Hartford (5-1 overall) was led by junior Ruthanne Doherty who finished with 13 points, one of three players in double figures. The Hawks closed out the UCF Thanksgiving Classic with a clean sweep, defeating TCU on Friday and UCF on Sunday.
Joining the junior post in leading the Hawks scoring efforts were freshmen Cherelle Moore and Amber Bepko who finished with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Each finished with their first career double digit performance as a Hawk. Moore's 12 points all came in the first half as she led all players in the first half, finishing the period 6-of-9 from the field. Bepko saw all 10 of her points come in the second half as she finished 3-of-5 from the field and 4-of-5 at the free throw line. Bepko also joined Doherty in leading the team with four steals, while as a combined unit the Hawks finished with 15.
As a team, Hartford finished the game shooting 43 percent from the field (22-of-51), connecting on two three pointers in seven attempts. The Hawks closed out the contest with a 9-of-10 effort at the free throw line, an area where the Hawks have struggled over the last few games. Defensively, Hartford held the home team to 40 percent shooting (21-of-53), while holding the Black Knights to no baskets beyond the three point line, finishing the contest 0-of-10.
The Black Knights (2-3 overall) finished with a 33-30 advantage on the boards, with Doherty leading Hartford's efforts with six rebounds. Alex Hall finished just behind her with five boards, while Milana Gilbert chipped in with four. The Hawks, who entered the game averaging 16.6 offensive boards per contest, were held to five boards on the offensive glass.
The teams seesawed back and forth through much of the first half, with four ties and five lead changes in the first 20 minutes. UCF would get the first bucket of the game a layup from Gevenia Carter 1:23 into the game. The Hawks would go on to tie the score at two and again at four before rattling off five-straight points to take a 9-5 lead with 15:11 to play. Freshman Shanise Bultron provided a three, one of two on the game for the rookie, which gave the Hawks their first lead.
After Moore gave the Hawks a 13-9 advantage on a jump shot with 13:48 on the clock, UCF would rattle off seven unanswered points to take a 16-3 lead. Hartford answered by scoring four of the next five buckets to retake the lead with a 21-18 advantage on another jump shot from Moore with 4:31 to play. UCF would manage to tie the game at 21 and 23 before the Hawks go back-to-back baskets from Moore, who scored the final eight points of the half for Hartford, to take a 27-23 lead before a last second put back from Racine Davis put the tally at 27-25 going into the break.
The Hawks came out of the break with a vengeance, scoring the first 14 points, keeping the Black Knights scoreless for nearly eight minutes. That run gave the Hawks a 42-25 advantage. The Hawks largest lead of the game would come on Hartford next basket, the second three pointer of the game from Bultron with 12:18 remaining.
Following that long range bucket, UCF rattled off eight unanswered to pull back within single digits. Bepko would break that run with a layup with just under 10 minutes to play, but the Knights weren't going to go down easy, scoring the next six, the final four from Carter to pull within five, 47-42.
Doherty would answer that second run with a pair of buckets to extend the Hawks lead back to nine, before UCF did the same to bring their deficit back to five with 1:08 remaining. Hartford would connect on four free throws, two each from Daphne Elliott and Bepko, securing their fifth victory of the season.
The Hawks next play on Thursday, December 1 when they travel to Poughkeepsie for an annual meeting with the Marist Red Foxes at 7:00 p.m.
