BOX SCORE
Orono, Maine – Eights were wild for sophomore Alex Hall who finished one of the most well rounded games of her career with eight points, eight rebounds and eight assists, leading the Hartford women's basketball team to a 62-49 win over the Maine Black Bears on Tuesday night at Alfond Arena. Junior guard Ilicia Mathis led the Hawks in scoring with 12 points, as they improve to 10-14 overall and 7-4 in America East play with their fourth-straight victory.
Following Mathis, who was the only Hawk in double figures, was Jackie Smith who added nine points, Taylor Clark who matched Hall's eight points, Nikkia Smith added seven and Mary Silvia completed the balance attack with six points. Overall, the Hawks finished the game shooting 40 percent overall (25-of-62), while holding the Black Bears to 34 percent (19-of-56).
As a team, the Hawks finished with a season high 20 assists, led by the career-high of eight from the sophomore from Pembroke, N.H. Following Hall in the assists category was Ruthanne Doherty and Jackie Smith with three each. The Black Bears did win the battle of the boards with a 41-39 final, with Hall leading the team in that category as well. Following Hall's eight boards was Doherty who finished with seven.
The Hawks opened the game with the first four points and never looked back from that early lead, despite allowing the Black Bears to tie the game at four just minutes later. The Hawks would answer by taking the lead right back, and extending it to 14-7, with 10 of the next 13 points in game to take the seven point lead with 10:30 remaining in the first half.
The Hawks would stretch their first half lead to as much as nine on two different occasions, the second of which came on a three pointer from Mary Silvia, which gave the Hawks a 22-13 lead with 3:57 remaining before the break. Maine's Tanna Ross would cut the lead to five in the final minute and despite two late free throws from Mathis, Ross would get it back to five with five seconds before the break, sending the teams into the locker room with a 27-22 Hawks lead.
Back-to-back three pointers from Daphne Elliott and Jackie Smith put the Hawks lead back at nine with just over a minute played in the second half, forcing the Black Bears to take a timeout. The Black Bears did make this interesting when they scored four-straight that put the Hawks lead at just three points, with a three pointer from Katelyn Vanderhoff. The basket, a three pointer, from Vanderhoff put the Black Bears within one basket with 12:59 remaining.
Hartford answered with a five point run and then, following another four straight from the Black Bears, the Hawks rattled off a 12-2 run, which gave the Hawks a 54-40 advantage with 5:46 remaining in the game. The final five points of that run all came from Mathis who hit a three pointer and followed that up with a jumper just about a minute later.
The Black Bears managed to pull within 10 points before the Hawks scored four straight within a minute to regain a 14 point lead that would just about stand up for the final. Corrinne Wellington would provide the final point of the game with a free throw with four seconds remaining, providing the final score of 62-49.
The Hawks will return home for a Sunday afternoon matinee against the Boston University Terriers. The Hawks will be looking to avenge a 58-50 loss to the Terriers in the first meeting of the year at Case Gymnasium. The Hawks and Terriers are scheduled to tip off at 1:00 p.m. on Comcast Sports New England.
