Box Score BURLINGTON, Vt.—A 14-0 run early in the second half propelled the University of Hartford women's basketball team to a 64-51 win over the Vermont Catamounts in Patrick Gymnasium Wednesday night. The win pushes the Hawks to 8-13 on the season and 5-3 in America East play. The Catamounts drop to 6-15 overall and 3-5 in the conference.
 
A trio of Hawks scored in double-figures, led by junior forward Cherelle Moore with 14 points. Freshman Morgan Lumb joined her with 12 points while senior forward Taylor Clark added a season-high 10 points, including a perfect 3-for-3 performance from the field. Each of the three came off the bench, contributing to a 43-14 edge in bench scoring for the Hawks.
 
Moore scored two of her points on a layup to spark Hartford's decisive run. After Vermont cut the Hartford lead to one point on a Kaylea Britton layup with 17:36 to play, Moore answered with a layup of her own to push the lead back to three.
 
Hartford proceeded to score the game's next 10 points to break the game open. Freshman Deanna Mayza picked up a steal and split a pair of Catamounts for a layup to give the Hawks a five-point cushion. After Clark hit a pair of free throws, the Hawks drew a foul to immediately get the ball back. Lumb then drained a three on the inbounds play to push the lead to 10, 38-28.
 
The Hartford press was working as Moore and Mayza set a trap on Jordan Eisler, resulting in a steal and uncontested layup by Moore. Just more than a minute later, Alyssa Englert found Shanise Bultron for a three to put the Hawks ahead, 43-28, and cap the 14-0 run.
 
The Hawks held Vermont without a bucket for 5:36 while building that lead. Over that span, Vermont shot 0-for-9 from the field while Hartford forced six turnovers.
 
The Hartford defense proved to be the difference in the contest. The Hawks forced 23 Vermont turnovers while recording 13 steals, converting the Catamount miscues into 18 points. The Hartford defense held the Catamounts to 19.8 percent shooting from the field (17-for-57).
 
On the offensive end, the Hawks shot 20-for-49 for a 40.8 field goal percentage.
 
Vermont started strong, leading for much of the first half. After a Lumb three tied the game, 9-9, the Catamounts rattled off seven straight points to open up a 16-9 advantage with 9:34 remaining in the first.
 
The Hartford defense held the Catamounts to just two field goals and six points over the final six minutes of the half. In that time, the Hawks turned a seven-point deficit into a three-point halftime lead with a pair of runs.
 
The Hawks trailed the Catamounts, 18-11, with 6:12 remaining in the half. An offensive rebound and putback by Taylor Clark cut the deficit to four, 18-14. A minute later, a Cherelle Moore layup capped a 5-0 Hartford run to put the Hawks within two.
 
With the Catamounts up, 22-18, the Hawks closed the half on a 9-2 run to take over the lead. Amber Bepko and Moore used the pick and roll to get things started. Moore slipped the screen and Bepko found her for an easy layup to put the Hawks within a bucket. After trading points, the Hawks finally took the lead, 25-24, on another three from Lumb. Englert put the punctuation on the run with a steal and a reverse layup with two seconds in the half to give the Hawks a 27-24 advantage at the break.  
 
After the decisive run, the Hawks pushed the lead to as much as 19 points. The Catamounts never came closer than 10 points the rest of the way.
 
Niki Taylor scored 15 points while Jordan Eisler added 14 to lead the Catamount attack.
 
The Hawks return to West Hartford for a home date against the Stony Brook Seawolves on Sunday, February 2 at 2 p.m. from the Chase Family Arena. The game will be streamed live and free of charge at AmericaEast.TV.