LOWELL, Mass. – The University of Hartford women's basketball team (5-13, 2-3 America East) scored an 80-76 victory over the newest member of the America East Conference, the UMass Lowell River Hawks, on Monday night, led by junior guard Amber Bepko  who finished with 19 points.

Bepko's 19 joined two other Hawks in double figures as Deanna Mayza and Cherelle Moore each chipped in 18. The 19 points for Bepko is a season-best and two shy of tying her career-high set last season. Overall, Hartford finished the game shooting 44.8 percent (30-of-67) from the field, including 32.1 percent from beyond the arc (9-of-28). Seven of the nine three pointers came in the opening half with four thanks to Bepko.

Hartford also won the battle of the boards with a 44-32 margin led by Alyssa Englert and Moore who each finished with eight. Freshmen Alyssa Reaves and La'Trice Hall also led the rebounding efforts with seven and six, respectively. Englert led Hartford with seven assists, her third in the last six games with five or more.

Hartford came into the game firing from outside, taking an early 9-0 lead on a pair of three pointers from Englert and another from Mayza. The River Hawks first bucket would come nearly 3:30 into the game with Jasmine McRoy hitting a jumper at 16:33. The Hawks would then extend their lead into double digits two minutes later with the first of Bepko's four three pointer providing a 14-4 edge.

A 5-0 run for Hartford nearly halfway through the second half gave Hartford its largest lead at that point at 15, 26-11. The run included an old fashioned three point play from Bepko and a steal and bucket from Moore with 10:53 remaining before intermission. Another basket from Bepko with 9:48 remaining matched that lead, before the Hawks took their largest lead with two minutes left before the break thanks to a three pointer from Mayza that resulted in a 40-22 advantage.

Back-to-back baskets from Hall in the final 66 seconds allowed the Hawks to match that lead at 44-26 before the River Hawks used a jumper from Kenya Stewart with two seconds remaining to cut Hartford halftime lead to 44-28. Bepko would lead all players at the break with 14 points.

Hartford would open the second half with five of the first seven points in 46 seconds, re-gaining an 18-point lead thanks to a three pointer from Shanise Bultron. UMass Lowell then used a 9-2 run to pull within 11 with 17:33 remaining in the game. The lone basket for Hartford in that stretch was a jump shot from Mayza.

The Hawks responded to that with a 7-0 run that regained an 18-point advantage for Hartford with 15:55 remaining. Three different players scored in the run, which was capped off with a three pointer from Bepko.

UMass Lowell responded by cutting the Hartford lead into single digits using a 13-2 run with the only Hartford basket provided by Mogan Lumb who drove to the hoop for a layup. The Hawks would respond to that run by scoring four straight, all of which came from Mayza, the first two on a jump shot and the second on a pair of free throws.

Again looking at a seven point lead, Hartford used another run, this time scoring six unanswered, to pull back ahead by 13 with 7:14 remaining in the game. That run included four more point from Mayza, sandwiched by a jump shot from Moore.

After a layup from McRoy cut Hartford's lead to six points, Hartford used a 6-0 run to take a 12 point lead with 1:40 remaining. That run included back-to-back layups from Moore and a pair of free throws from Bepko. The River Hawks attempted a late comeback scoring eight straight points in the final 90 seconds but it wouldn't be enough.

The Hawks return to West Hartford for one game before returning to the road. Hartford will welcome the Binghamton Bearcats to the Chase Family Arena for the first of two meetings in the regular season. Hartford and Binghamton are scheduled for a 7 p.m. tip-off with all the action available live online on the America East Digital Network (AmericaEast.tv). Fans can also watch live on the mobile devices by going to AmericaEast.tv. Last season, Hartford and Binghamton split the two regular season match-ups with each squad winning on its home court, while Hartford scored a 68-53 victory over the Bearcats in the quarterfinals of the America East Championship.