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West Hartford, Conn. – Behind three players in double figures, the Hartford women's basketball team rolled to a 63-44 victory over the Stony Brook Seawolves in the final game of the first trip through the conference schedule. Hartford, who was led by junior Ruthanne Doherty with 14 points, improves to 12-10 on the season and is now 3-5 in America East Conference play.
Doherty's 14 points led one other starter in double figures as Daphne Elliott added 11 points, while freshman Cherelle Moore came off the bench and poured in a dozen, tying her career high. , the trip combined to shoot 17-of-31, while the team shot 48 percent from the field overall on 27-of-56. Also among the leading scorers was junior Alex Hall who finished with nine points. The Hawks also finished the game with a 50 percent shooting performance from beyond the arc on 6-of-12; with the six three's tying the season high.
Hartford also won the battle of the boards with a 36-27 advantage, spreading the wealth among all but one of the 11 players who saw time for the Hawks. Leading the way for the home team was Doherty and Moore who each finished with five boards, while four other players pulled in four rebounds each; Elliott, Hall, Taylor Clark and Milana Gilbert.
The Hawks opened up the action with a three pointer just nine seconds after the opening tip, that bucket coming from Hall as she continued her hot streak after finishing with 21 points last time out at Boston University. Hartford would keep that early lead until the 14:21 mark when the Seawolves strung together back-to-back buckets, a three pointer from Tamiel Murray and a jumper from Kellie Krueger, to take a 9-7 advantage.
The visitors would hold that lead for the next three minutes before a free throw from Clark gave the Hawks a one-point advantage, 12-11. The Hawks wouldn't relinquish that lead for the remainder of the game. After a jump shot from Whitney Davis pulled Stony Brook within three, 18-15 with 7:22 remaining, the Hawks rattled off a 12-2 run that gave them their first double digit advantage at 30-17 with 2:11 remaining in the half.
Hartford would extend that run to 16-4 by the end of the period, taking a 15 point advantage into the locker room at the break, 34-19. Moore provided the final bucket of the half on a jump shot off a feed from sophomore point guard Alyssa Englert. Doherty led all players at the break with 10 points, securing her 12th game in double figures this season.
Coming out of the break, the Hawks would put the first four points on the board with back-to-back layups from Doherty and Smith, sandwiching together a missed jumper from Stony Brook's Davis. After those two buckets game the Hawks a 19 point advantage, the Seawolves would manage to cut it as lost a 15 on a layup from Davis before Hartford gained its first 20 points advantage with 13:33 remaining in the contest. That lead came by way of a jump shot from Englert.
Stony Brook responded to that 20 point lead by scoring six straight to pull their deficit to 14, 47-33, with 11:07 on the clock, but Hartford answered that run with a three pointer from Elliott and a layup from Gilbert to quickly pull back ahead by 19. The Seawolves would respond to those back-to-back buckets with another six point run that pulled them within 13 points with 5:24 remaining in the game.
Hartford would then secure the victory scoring 11 of the next 12 points in the game to pull ahead by its largest margin of the night, 23 (63-40), with 1:29 remaining in the contest. Stony Brook's Destiny Jacobs and Sam Landers would provide the final two buckets of the night and the final tally of 63-44 in favor of the defending America East Champions.
Hartford will return to the hardwood on Saturday when they began their second half of the league schedule at Albany. The Hawks and Great Danes will tip off at 3:00 p.m. at SEFCU Arena as the Hawks look to rebound from a 40-37 home loss in the first meeting back on January 2.
