THE BASICS:

RESULT: Hartford 53, Cornell 50
RECORDS: Hartford (1-0); Cornell (0-1)
LOCATION: Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion (West Hartford, Conn.)
ATTENDANCE: 862

THE LEAD: Junior guard Deanna Mayza drilled a three-pointer – her third of the evening – with 10 seconds left to play to lift the University of Hartford women's basketball team to a thrilling, 53-50, season-opening win over Cornell on Friday at Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion. Mayza finished with 19 points in the victory to lead all scorers, while sophomore forward Darby Lee also finished in double figures with 10 points. With neither team building more than a four-point edge throughout the night, the contest was evenly contested with 11 ties and 10 lead changes.

FIRST HALF:

Both teams came out of the gates sluggish to start, as Hartford held an 8-6 edge at the end of the first quarter. The Hawks picked up the pace in the start of the second quarter, with Lee draining a pair of free throws at the 9:00 mark before following a Megan LeDuc layup with a jumper with 7:49 left to give Hartford the 12-8 edge. Cornell countered with a run, though, as it quickly rattled off eight unanswered points over the next 56 seconds to take the lead. A Nia Marshall layup sparked that run, which was capped by two three-point possesions - a three-pointer from LeDuc followed by an old-fashioned three-point play from Nicholle Aston. That rally put the visiting squad up by a 16-12 count with 6:22 to go until halftime.

The Hawks made a big push in the final 6:13 of the second quarter, outscoring the Big Red, 12-6, to pull even at 24-all at the halftime break. Highlighting that stretch was junior La'Trice Hall, who converted on a pair of free throws with 4:47 remaining before hitting nothing but net from for her first career three-pointer on the next possession 35 seconds later. Her five-point spurt pulled the Hawks out of an 18-15 deficit and provided them with a 20-18 advantage. But Marshall, who led all scorers at the break with 12 points, brought Cornell back in the game with back-to-back layups. Following consecutive Hartford buckets from Lee and Mayza, Aston made it a tied ball game at the break with a runner in the paint. Mayza contributed nine first-half points for the Hawks while Lee went 2-of-3 from the field and 4-of-4 from the free throw line for eight points.       

SECOND HALF:

Both teams came out even in the second half, and at the end of the third, it was Cornell that held the slight lead at 40-38. With 4:47 left to play in the quarter, Maddie Campbell matched the largest lead of the game for either team with a layup to make it a 34-30, Big Red advantage before junior Katelyn Skinner quickly brought the game down to a single point with a key three-pointer with 4:14 to go. Hartford went 6-of-7 effort from the charity stripe in the third, including 5-of-6 over the final 2:48, to keep the game within two points at the end of stanza.

Mayza, who opened the final quarter with a three-pointer that gave Hartford its first lead of the second half at 41-40, went on to lift her team to the win with another triple in the closing seconds. Hall and classmate Alyssa Reaves knocked down key 10-footers in the final 1:46 to keep the lead in the Hawks' hands, but Caroline Shelquist kept things interesting and answered for Cornell with a baseline triple to tie up the score at 50-all. That set the scene for Mayza, who provided the game-winning triple in last year's meeting in Ithaca, N.Y., as she converted from downtown with 10 seconds left to put the Hawks up by three. With no time outs remaining, the Big Red managed to put up a desperation shot, but Marshall's heave before the final buzzer was well off the mark.       

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

·         Two Hawks logged double-figures in Friday's win as Mayza netted 17 points on 6-of-16 shooting while Lee contributed 10 points, including a perfect 4-of-4 effort from the charity stripe.

·         Coming out of the gates shooting 27.6 percent (8-of-29), the Hawks turned around that effort in the second half by going 40.9 percent (9-of-22) from the field.

·         Hartford also improved upon a 2-of-11 first-half effort from long range as it converted on 3-of-5 attempts, including Mayza's triple in the final seconds, for a 60.0 percent clip.

·         The charity stripe was a key factor in the game for the Hawks, as they attempted seven more freebies than the Big Red and converted on 77.8 percent of those shots (14-of-18).

·         Marshall, who finished the game with 17 points for the Big Red, was held to just five second-half points after leading all scorers at the break with 12.

·         Aston also finished in twin figures for Cornell as she netted 13 points with a game-best eight boards.

NEWS & NOTES:

·         Hartford improves to 2-0 against Cornell as it took the inaugural game of the series, 48-46, in last year's season opener.

·         Mayza posted her 29th double-digit scoring game of her career on Friday.

·         Pulling down seven rebounds, Lee matched a career-high against the Big Red.

·         Hall, a junior, also put together a solid game as she notched career-best numbers in points (7) and assists (4), while adding seven rebounds.

·         Hartford improves to 21-12 in season openers, and 12-5 under head coach Jen Rizzotti.

UP NEXT:                                                                    
The Hawks hit the road for the first time in 2015-16 with a 3 p.m. contest at Sacred Heart on Sunday, Nov. 15. Rizzotti is 6-0 all-time against the Pioneers, while overall, Hartford holds a 7-5 advantage in the series.