PHOTO GALLERY

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Sophomore Amber Bepko led the Hawks for the third straight game with 16 points as Hartford dropped a 69-55 decision to the currently undefeated (12-0) in conference play Albany Great Danes on Sunday. Bepko was one of two Hawks to finish in double figures as she was joined by senior Ruthanne Doherty who added 11 points.

The Hawks (17-9, 8-5 America East) finished the contest shooting 30.6 percent (15-of-49), including a 33.3 percent effort from long range (7-of-21). Albany used a 60 percent (12-of-20) second half shooting effort, 53.7 percent for the game (22-of-41), to secure their 12th straight victory. The Great Danes also won the battle of the boards with a 35-23 advantage with Julie Forster leading all players with 10 rebounds. Doherty led Hartford with six boards.

Bepko finished the game shooting 4-of-11 overall, with all four baskets from outside the arc (4-of-8). She was also a perfect 4-of-4 at the free throw line, one of three players to finish perfect at the line. As a team, Hartford finished 18-of-26 at the free throw line (69.2 percent).

Defensively, the Hawks forced Albany into 24 turnovers, but managed to score just 10 points off of those miscues. In turn, the Great Danes scored 22 points off of just 16 Hartford turnovers. Alyssa Englert led all players in the game with five assists as her team finished with 12 assists on their 15 total baskets. Doherty led the way with four steals.

Both teams opened up the contest firing from outside the arc with the first five baskets of the game all beyond 19 feet 6 inches. The Great Danes would net the first two three's, one each from Lindsey Lowrie and Torrington, Conn. native Sarah Royals.

Hartford followed those two Albany field goals with three straight from long range two from Bepko and one from Shanise Bultron. Those nine points added to a free throw from Doherty led to a 10-9 lead for the Hawks. However, that lead would be the last for Hartford as the Great Danes scored the next five points to regain an 11-10 advantage with 10:04 remaining.

A free throw from Nikkia Smith tied the game at 11 before the Great Danes scored six straight to take a 17-11 lead on a layup from Forster with 6:12 remaining. Bultron answered the six point deficit by breaking a 10 minute drought without a field goal by scoring her second from downtown pulling with three, 17-14.

After Doherty converted a three point play with 4:11 remaining before the break, the Great Danes again extended their lead back to six with a three pointer from Forster that provided a 25-19 advantage. The Hawks answered that by scoring the next four points to make it a one-possession contest on a jump shot from the baseline from senior Alex Hall.

The Great Danes would then use a three pointer from Royal with 46 seconds remaining to take their largest lead of the half at 30-23 before a pair of free throws from Englert cut it to a five point advantage. A last second heave from Royals as time expired provided the halftime score of 33-25. Royals finished the first half with 14 points leading all scorers. 

The momentum of the halftime buzzer beater carried through to the first three minutes of the second half as the Great Danes opened up the stanza on a 14-4 run, extending their lead to 47-29 with 17:03 remaining in the game. A three pointer from Bepko broke that momentum with 15:09 remaining, making it a 15 point deficit.

After trading baskets for the next four minutes, another three from Bepko pulled Hartford within 14, 53-39, with 11:48 to play, but the Great Danes had the answer 45 seconds later when Margarita Rosario sank an equalizing three on a second chance possession created by her pulling down the rebound.

Forster would then provide Albany's first 20 point advantage of the afternoon with her second three pointer of the contest with 9:48 remaining. Smith would break the momentum of the back-to-back three's with a jump shot with 9:28 remaining, her first basket of the contest.

Following another three pointer for Albany, this one from Lowrie, the Hawks began to chip away at what was a 21 point deficit with seven straight. The first three of the run came on a three pointer from Hall, while Doherty provided the final three on a layup with 6:47 remaining and then a free throw 18 seconds later to pull withing 14, 62-48.

Forster broke Hartford's late momentum with a jump shot at the six minute mark, that starting a series of five of the next seven points. That run regained a 17 point Great Danes advantage, 67-50, that was too much for the Hawks to overcome, despite holding Albany to one field goal in the last six minutes following Forster's jumper.

Hartford will play its next two contests on the road, both a week apart. First on the docket will be a trip to Durham, N.H. for a Wednesday night match-up against the New Hampshire Wildcats. Hartford and New Hampshire will tip off a 7:00 p.m. on January 20.