BOX SCORE
Albany, N.Y. – Daphne Elliott led four Hawks in double figures, with 17 points, as the Hartford women's basketball team picked up its second-straight win 65-57 over Albany on Saturday afternoon at SEFCU Arena. With the victory, the Hawks improve to 13-10 on the season and 4-5 in conference play.
All four Hawks who finished in double figures came from the starting five as Ruthanne Doherty finished with 13 and Amber Bepko and Nikkia Smith each added 10. Senior forward Keyokah Mars-Garrick finished with six points leading the Hawks off the bench. Overall as a team, Hartford shot 48.9 percent from the field (22-of-45), while finishing the second half with a 52.4 percent effort on 11-of-21.
The Hawks also finished with 17 assists and 11 steals, while defensively forcing the Great Danes into 24 turnovers. The Hawks would turn those 24 Albany turnovers into 35 points, while Albany mustered 16 points off the Hawks 18 turnovers. Elliott led the Hawks with six assists, while Doherty led the team with four steals.
Albany finished the contest shooting 44.2 percent from the floor on 19-of-43, while putting its best numbers up in the first half where they connected on 10-of-19 for 52.6 percent. Ebone Henry and Cassandra Callaway led the home team with 13 points each. Albany did win the battle of the boards with a 31-25 advantage led by eight from Henry. Doherty led the Hawks with five boards.
Albany opened up the scoring with Henry hitting one-of-two free throws nearly 1:30 into the action. Henry would then connect on a jump shot with 17:26 left in the half before the Hawks go on the board with a three point play form Elliott. Alex Hall followed that up with her only bucket of the game, a three pointer from the corner with 16:13 to play, which gave the Hawks a 6-3 advantage.
Albany answered that bucket from Hall with seven straight points, all coming in the paint on three layups and a free throw from 6-8 Megan Craig. Elliott answered that run with a three pointer that was quickly matched by one form Lindsey Lowrie. The Great Danes would then open up their largest lead of the game with a 4-0 run that gave the home squad a 17-10 lead with 9:21 remaining before the break.
The Hawks responded to that deficit by scoring six straight points all from their post presence with Mars-Garrick and Smith adding jumpers and Doherty a pair of free throws. Following a second chance layup from Keyana Williams, the Hawks would score another five unanswered on a layup from Doherty and a three pointer from Elliott giving them their second lead of the game 21-19 with 4:28 to play in the half.
The Great Danes answered with another lead change on a three pointer from Lowrie, but the Hawks would take the lead back for the third time on a three point play from Bepko with 2:46 remaining before the halftime break. That lead change proved to the last of the game as the Hawks would take a three point lead into the halftime break and never relinquish its lead in the second period.
Just before the halftime break, the Great Danes looked poised to take a lead into the locker room after a three pointer from Callaway pulled them within one with time for two possessions remaining, but the Hawks would get the final bucket of the half, a jump shot from Cherelle Moore, which led to the 33-30 halftime margin.
Coming out of the break, the Great Danes scored first on a jump shot from Adrienne Jones just 15 seconds into the action, but the Hawks responded with five straight points to put the lead back into a three bucket differential.
After trading buckets over the next two minutes, the Hawks would use another 5-0 run, which began on a three pointer from Bepko, to take a nine point lead with 15:26 to play in the game, forcing the Great Danes to call a timeout.
The timeout worked to the Great Danes advantage as they came out of that break and scored six unanswered points to pull within three points, 45-42, with 13:58 to play. Smith would break up that momentum with a jump shot, before Albany scored three more to pull within a bucket, 47-45, with 12:27 remaining.
Moore answered that with a layup and then the Hawks followed a free throw from Henry with a 6-0 run that regained a nine point advantage 55-46 with 9:01 on the clock. Bepko would score the final four points of that run on a pair of free throws and a jump shot just inside the three point line.
Coming down the stretch, neither team would score a field goal over the final 5:30 of the game, with the Hawks held without a bucket for the final 7:21, but free throws from Smith and Elliott secured the victory. The Hawks would end the game with the final four points, two free throws each from Smith and Elliott, giving them the final margin, 65-57.
The Hawks will return home for a single game on Wednesday evening when they welcome the New Hampshire Wildcats to West Hartford for a 7:00 p.m. tip. The Hawks are looking to avenge a 19 point loss in the first meeting at New Hampshire back on January 5.
