PHOTO GALLERY

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. – The Hartford women's basketball team remains unblemished in the young season following a 76-62 victory in the first road contest of the year at Central Connecticut. Leading the Hawks (3-0 overall) was Nikkia Smith and Amber Bepko who each finished with 17.

Smith and Bepko led four players in double figures joined by Ruthanne Doherty (13) and Daphne Elliott (11). The Hawks finished the game shooting 41.4 percent (24-of-58) overall after connecting on 48.0 percent (12-of-25) in the second half. The Hawks also capitalized at the free throw line connecting on all but four of their 27 attempts.  

The Hawks also won the battle of the board, 36-32, for the first time this season. Hartford finished with a balanced effort on the boards with Smith and Doherty leading the team with six each. The visitors also forced CCSU into 23 turnovers while finishing with 14 steals led by Smith, Elliott and Doherty who each picked up three steals.

Doherty put the Hawks on the board, opening the scoring 48 seconds into the action on a layup. After the Blue Devils tied things up on a pair of free throws, Hartford rattled off nine straight to take an 11-2 lead with 12:06 remaining.

Amanda Harrington sunk the Blue Devils first basket of the game more than eight minutes in when she connected on her first of four first half buckets with 11:48 remaining. The Hawks answered by regaining their nine point advantage on a jump shot from Smith before CCSU responded with three-straight baskets to pull within three, 13-10 with 8:22 remaining.

The Hawks answered that run with a 5-0 scamper of their own, the final three coming the old fashioned way as Bepko provided a fast break bucket and calmly sunk the free throw. CCSU replied with five straight of its own, the final three on the Blue Devils first three pointer from Jaclyn Babe.

After trading the next two buckets, Hartford regained an eight point lead, 25-17, following a pair of free throws from Christie Michals and the first of two first half three pointers for the Hawks from Elliott.

With just over 90 seconds remaining before the break, the second three pointer came from Bepko and provided a nine point cushion, however CCSU answered by scoring seven of the final nine points to pull within four at the half, 34-30.

Leading the Hawks at the intermission was Smith who finished with nine points, while Bepko ended the first 20 minutes with eight. The Hawks shot 36 percent in the opening half, 12-of-33, while CCSU finished the stanza 11-of-26 for 42 percent. Hartford also forced the home team into 13 turnovers and scored 13 points off those miscues.

Coming out of the break, Hartford scored the first bucket on a three pointer from Bepko, a second-chance bucket for the Hawks. That bucket also put her into double figures, the first player of the game and her second of the season and seventh of her career.

The teams traded buckets for the first six plus minutes of the second half before three straight points, a free throw and jump shot, from Smith gave the Hawks a 50-42 lead with 12:32 remaining. Following a jumper from Jaclyn Babe, the Hawks scored four of the next five baskets to take a 12-point lead, the largest of the game.

After matching that lead two minutes later, the Blue Devils made a run scoring eight straight to pull within four with 3:43 remaining in the game. The Hawks defense stepped up and held the Blue Devils to just two more baskets, while offensively Hartford hit 9-of-10 at the line in the final 1:22 to secure the victory remaining unbeaten in 2012-13.

Hartford will be back on the hardwood in less than 48 hours when they welcome the Richmond Spiders to West Hartford on Sunday. The Hawks and Spiders are scheduled for a 2:00 p.m. tipoff at the Chase Family Arena at the Reich Family Pavilion. Hartford looks to avenge a loss last season in the series opener in Richmond.