BOX SCORE
Stony Brook, N.Y. – Junior Alex Hall put up double figures for the second straight game, finishing with 19, to lead the Hawks to their eighth straight win on the road at Stony Brook 49-42 on Wednesday night. The Hawks improve to 19-10 overall and 10-5 in America East play and will host Boston University on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. for Senior Day.
Hall's 19 points led three players in double figures as classmates Nikkia Smith and Ruthanne Doherty joined her with 16 and 11 points, respectively. Doherty's 11 points is the eighth straight game the post player has finished in double figures for Hartford. The Hawks also won the battle of the boards with a 35-32 advantage led by nine rebounds from Smith, one shy of her first double double of the season.
Hartford was outshot in the contest by the home Seawolves. Stony Brook finished the game shooting 38.3 percent overall on 18-of-47, while the Hawks managed 19 baskets in 53 attempts for 35.8 percent. The Hawks did hold Stony Brook to just one three point basket, while finishing 4-of-9 from beyond the arc (44.4 percent) and making 7-of-10 at the free throw line (70 percent).
Doherty scored the first six points for the Hawks in a low scoring first eight minutes of the half. Those first eight minutes saw four ties and two lead changes with neither team taking a significant advantage.
Following a free throw from Stony Brook's Jessica Previlon that gave the home team a 9-8 advantage, the Hawks used back-to-back three pointers from Hall for the third lead change. Those two long range buckets gave the Hawks the largest lead for either team in the first 20 minutes, a 14-9 advantage with 7:26 remaining in the half.
Stony Brook would then use back to back baskets to cut that lead down to a single point, but the Hawks answered with six of the next eight points to regain a five point advantage with 1:24 remaining before the break. That five point lead came courtesy of a three point play from Doherty who was fouled on a layup.
Four straight free throws from Stony Brook's Whitney Davis and Destiny Jacobs again cut the Hawks lead to a single point, but the final bucket of the half came from the Hawks Smith, a jump shot with eight seconds remaining that gave the Hawks a 22-19 lead going into the locker room.
Doherty led all players in the half with nine points, while neither team found a shooting rhythm. The Hawks finished the half making 9-of-30 (30 percent), while the Seawolves team managed just seven baskets in 24 attempts for 29.2 percent on their home court. Davis led the Seawolves with eight points in the first half.
The Hawks did take a 22-17 edge on the boards into the break with Smith leading all players in the game with five rebounds. Two other Hawks finished with four rebounds each, Doherty and freshman Amber Bepko.
The Hawks came out of the break and scored the first five points of the half in a hurry with a layup from Smith on the opening possession and then a three pointer from Hall 97 seconds into the half. Following a quick timeout for the Seawolves, the home team scratched off four straight points to pull within two possessions, but the Hawks answered again with a jumper from Hall.
That jump shot for Hall tipped off almost four minutes of the teams trading baskets before a 6-0 run gave the visiting squad their first double digit lead of the game 39-29 with 8:17 to play. All three of the baskets in that run came on layups, one each from Doherty, Hall and Smith.
Stony Brook again used back-to-back baskets to chip away at the Hawks advantage, but a three pointer from Hall with 3:25 remaining gave the visiting team a 44-35 advantage. The Seawolves weren't going to go down without a fight as they used a two minute stretch to pull within two points of Hartford with 35 seconds remaining in the contest. Previlon would score four points in that run, sandwiching a three pointer from Natalie Myers.
Hartford would take control of the victory with five three pointers in the final 20 seconds of the half, which was made possible by a pair of offensive rebounds for the Hawks. Bepko and Hall would provide the final points of the night, both hitting a pair of free throws within the last 10 seconds of the game.
The Hawks return to West Hartford for the regular season finale on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. when Boston University visits the Chase Family Arena at the Reich Family Pavilion. Prior to Saturday's game, Hartford will honor its lone senior, Keyokah Mars-Garrick.
