West Hartford, Conn. – The Hartford women's basketball team erased a 16-point first half deficit and completed the comeback with a Nikkia Smith jumper in the final seconds to lift the Hawks to a 61-59 win over the Hostra Pride. Junior Ruthanne Doherty led the Hawks with 18 points on the game.
Hartford (6-3 overall) finished with three players in double figures led by Doherty. Joining her were a pair of classmates, Smith with 12 and Daphne Elliott with 11. Elliott also led the Hawks rebounding performance with nine rebounds while chipping in five assists and four steals, all of which tie the Fairfield native's career highs. Doherty chipped in with seven rebounds for the Hawks, who trailed in the overall team battle 36-39.
The Hawks finished the game shooting 37 percent from the field, 23-of-62, while the Pride shot 23-of-53 from the field for 43 percent. The Hawks defense held Hofstra to a season low scoring output as the Pride entered the contest averaging 83.6 points-per-contest. That defense limited the Pride's shooting efforts in the second half after they opened the contest shooting of 52 percent (13-of-25), but out the fight hitting 10-of-28 in the final stanza. Hartford also forced
Individually, Doherty led the Hawks shooting efforts with a 7-of-15 effort from the floor, while Smith finished 5-of-10 from the field. The pair was also a combined 6-of-6 at the free throw line. The Hawks defense also forced the Pride into 24 turnovers, the second most they have pressured an opponent into this season. The Hawks would turn those 24 turnovers into 22 points. The Hawks also held an 11-6 advantage in second chance points, while finishing the game with an 11-7 advantage on the offensive glass.
Hartford would open the game with a jumper from Elliott taking the early advantage. Hofstra would manage to tie the score three times before taking their first lead as part of an 18-0 run that left the Hawks in a 24-8 hole with 8:31 remaining in the half. In that stretch, the Hawks would go 0-of-7 from the field and commit a pair of turnovers.
Following that Hofstra run, the Hawks would close out the half with an 18-7 advantage on the scoreboard, going into the break down by five, 37-32. Through the end of that run, the Pride were shooting 58 percent (10-of-17) from the field, including a stretch of five straight baskets without a miscue.
Coming out of the halftime intermission, the Hawks would quickly cut the Hofstra lead to asingle points with the first four points of the half coming from a jumper from Smith and a layup from Doherty. Hofstra's first bucket in the second period would come with 17:28 remaining in the game on a layup from Nicole Capurso.
Following those first two buckets for Hartford, the Pride would use a 7-2 advantage to retake a seven point advantage at 39-32, their largest of the second half before the Hawks comeback continued. Smith would break up six unanswered points for Hofstra with a layup with 14:38 remaining in the half.
After a pair of free throws from the Pride's leading scorer Shante Evans, finished with 16 points, gave the visitors a 48-44 advantage with under 10 minutes to play, the Hawks would begin a 12-0 run that was ignited by a jumper from rookie Cherelle Moore. That run would give the Hawks their largest lead of the game at 56-48, with Elliott contributing the final four points.
Hofstra wasn't going to go down easy as they answered that run with nine straight points to retake the lead with a one point( 57-56) advantage that the teams would end up trading back and forth over the next two buckets. After a layup from Capurso, finished with 10 points, Hartford got a friendly bounce off the rims of the Chase Family Arena on a fade away jumper from Smith as time expired on the shot clock. That bucket gave Hartford a 60-59 lead with 26 seconds remaining in the game.
The Hawks would come down the floor and force a turnover with 13 seconds remaining in the game. After an unsuccessful attempt of trapping the Hawks, the Pride were forced to foul the Hawks, which allowed Elliott to give the Hawks a two-point advantage with 5.2 seconds remaining on the clock. Hartford's defense would hold on as the seconds ticked away and the Hawks remained unbeaten at home in four attempts.
Hartford will return to the Chase Family Arena at the Reich Family Pavilion for a Saturday afternoon match-up with Boston College in a doubleheader with the men's team. The Hawks and Eagles are scheduled for a 2:00 p.m. tip. The Hawks men's basketball team will then host the Niagara Purple Eagles with the tip scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
