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Orono, Maine – The Hartford women's basketball team extended its season long winning streak to six-straight games with a 59-40 road victory over the Maine Black Bears at Alfond Arena. Hartford (17-10, 7-5 AE) was led by junior Ruthanne Doherty who finished with a game high 19 points. Maine falls to 6-20 overall and 3-10 in league play with the loss.
Doherty joined two other players who broke the double digit mark with Nikkia Smith and Daphne Elliott each finishing with 10 points. Doherty also led the team with six steals, a career high for the junior from Richmond, Va. The Hawks also won the battle of the boards with a 32-28 final margin led by Smith who finished with seven. Senior Keyokah Mars-Garrick finished with six rebounds for the Hawks, setting a career-high.
The Hawks finished the game shooting 38 percent overall on 20-of-53, while also going 17-of-20 at the free throw line. Doherty finished the game 7-of-8 at the line. Defensively, the Hawks forced Maine into 25 turnovers and scored 22 points off of those mistakes. The Hawks finished the game with 13 turnovers, off of which Maine managed just four points.
Maine would put the first points on the board with a three pointer from Brittany Williams, the only three pointer in the first half for the Black Bears. Doherty would answer with Hartford's first field goal on an unassisted jump shot with 18:46 remaining. Doherty would then score her second bucket a minute later which also led to the Hawks first lead in the game, 6-5 with 17:47 remaining.
Following a layup from Danielle Walczak, the Hawks would rattle off seven straight to take a 13-7 lead, one they wouldn't relinquish the remainder of the half. Three different Hawks scored in the run, including Daphne Elliott sinking the Hawks first long range bucket of the game.
The Black Bears responded with four-straight to pull within a bucket with 11:40 remaining, 13-11. The Hawks would then tip off a 17-5 run over the next 8:30 which provided the Hawks largest lead of the half 30-16 with 3:56 remaining before the break. Doherty would finish that run with nine points, pushing herself into double figures for the game, the sixth straight game she has scored in double figures.
The squads would then trade four-point runs before Amber Dillon struck with the final field goal of the half as time expired. The Black Bears finished the first 20 minutes with 12 turnovers, which Hartford turned into 13 points, while the home team mustered just four points off the Hawks seven first half miscues. Doherty led all players at the break with 15 points, while Walczak led the Black Bears with seven points.
The second half started rather slowly as the teams combined for eight total points through the first 6-plus minutes before an 8-0 run broke open the Hawks lead into the double decade mark, 46-26 with 11:15 to play in the game. Alex Hall provided the final four points of that run un a jumper and a pair of free throws.
Following a free throw from Maine's Ashleigh Roberts, the Hawks opened their largest lead of the game at 48-27 with 10:08 remaining in the game on an Elliott layup. The Black Bears then rattled off eight of the next 10 points in the game to pull within 15, 50-35 with 4:48 remaining in the game.
After a three pointer from Williams with 3:10 remaining, the second three pointer of the game for Maine, the Hawks would run off six straight points to match the largest lead of 21 with 1:13 remaining. The final bucket of that run came from sophomore Milana Gilbert on a layup off a feed from Hall. Maine would manage the final points of the game with just under a minute remaining on a layup from Walczak.
The Hawks will return to West Hartford for their next game when they host the UMBC Retrievers on Sunday, February 19. The Hawks and Retrievers are scheduled for a 12:00 p.m. tip off in a game that will air live on CBS Sports Network. The game also serves as the annual Pink game, where the Hawks join in the national effort of the Play4Kay Foundation, raising money and awareness for Breast Cancer Research.
