THE BASICS:

RESULT: Hartford 49, Central Connecticut 41
RECORDS: Hartford (4-3); Central Connecticut (1-6)
LOCATION: Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion (West Hartford, Conn.)
ATTENDANCE: 1,402

THE LEAD: Sophomore Darby Lee scored 10 of her game-best 16 points in the fourth quarter to help the University of Hartford women's basketball team hold off visiting Central Connecticut State, 49-41, on Wednesday evening. Lee made 7-of-9 from the field while junior Deanna Mayza netted each of her nine points in the final 3:03
as the Hawks shook off a slow third quarter to come away with the victory. In the losing effort, Central Connecticut was led by Camden Musgrave, who had 14 points, including a trio of three-pointers in the final 50 seconds.

FIRST HALF:
The Hawks capitalized on a cold start from Central Connecticut, as they went up, 8-2, before the end of the first quarter. A keen jumper from Lee followed by a three-pointer from senior Katelyn Skinner, who earned her first career start in the contest, quickly provided the Hawks with a 5-0 edge. The Blue Devils opened up the game with an 0-for-10 effort from the floor and did not see their first bucket come until the 3:12 mark. Musgrave provided that bucket, getting a layup to fall through contact before missing the ensuing free throw on the potential and-one. The Hawks would close out the stanza with a 3-0 spurt behind freshman Mikayla Delcastegne's first career bucket – a layup – with 1:43 to go followed by a 1-of-2 effort from the free throw line by another rookie in Jalay Knowles.

Central Connecticut shook off an anemic, 7.7 percent shooting effort from the floor in the second quarter, but the Hawks had an answer for each of the Blue Devils' baskets. With 6:48 to go before intermission, junior Alyssa Reaves got back-to-back layups to fall, with senior Christie Michals providing assists on both scores, to push Hartford's lead into double digits for the first time (14-4). A jump shot from Central Connecticut's Emma Stroyan with 4:10 to go would pull the visitors within eight at the break at 18-10, as both teams missed combined to miss their last 11 shots of the half.

SECOND HALF:
The Blue Devils came out of the halftime break looking like a different squad. Making seven of its first nine shots while forcing four Hartford turnovers, Central Connecticut tied up the game at 21-all with 6:52 left before taking its first lead on a Stroyan putback 33 seconds later. Lee quickly knotted up the score at 23-all, but layups from TeJahne Malone and Stroyan provided the Blue Devils with their largest advantage of the game at 27-23 with 4:03 to go.

From there, the remainder of the game belonged to Hartford. Delcastegne came up huge in the closing minutes of the third, as she dropped in a three-pointer from the top of the key and went coast-to-coast for a fast break bucket with 1:33 remaining to put the lead back in the hands of Hartford at 28-27 before the end of the third.

The Blue Devils would claim one more advantage early in the final quarter, as Kayla Miller opened up the scoring with a jumper at the 9:12 mark. That would be the last bucket for the visiting squad for quite some time, though, as the Hawks opened up a 41-29 lead by wheeling off 12-straight points. Lee scored the first six points of that run, pushing the Hawks' advantage to 35-29 with an old-fashioned three-point play with 6:19 to go, before Mayza capped things off with her first points of the outing – a three-pointer with 3:03 left. Down the stretch, the Blue Devils hit four three-pointers over the final 2:33, three of which came from Musgrave, but the Mayza kept the squad at bay by capitalizing for a 6-of-6 effort from the charity stripe.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Hartford closed the door on Central Connecticut defensively in the first half. The Blue Devils started the game 0-for-10 and shot just 7.7 percent over the first quarter.
• CCSU finished the opening half at 19.2 percent, converting on just 5-of-26 shots from the field, all of which came inside of the three-point arc.
• Behind a 43.3 percent effort in the second half (13-of-30), the Blue Devils finished the game shooting at a 32.1 percent clip (18-of-56), including a 27.8 percent mark from three (5-of-18).
• The Hawks forced the Blue Devils into 17 turnovers, turning those miscues into 14 points on the offensive end.
• Hartford also struggled to convert from the field in the opening half, as it made 30.8 percent (8-of-26) of its shots during that stretch, including just 1-of-9 from long range (11.1 percent).
• The second half saw better numbers for the Hawks, as they converted on 60 percent of their three-point attempts (3-of-5) and 47.6 percent of their shots overall (10-of-21). Overall, Hartford finished at 38.3 percent (18-of-47).
• Reaching the double bonus with four minutes left in the game, the Hawks capitalized from the charity stripe in the second half, going 8-for-10. The Hawks made nine shots in 12 trips to the line, while CCSU did not convert on its lone free throw attempt.
• The 41 points conceded to the Blue Devils is a season-best defensive effort for the Hawks.
• In her Hartford debut, freshman Delcastegne chipped in with seven points, including a key 5-0 run which gave the Hawks the lead for good at the end of the third.

NEWS & NOTES:

• Lee came one-point shy of matching her career-high of 17 in Wednesday's win.
• The Hawks have now won their last two against the Blue Devils, improving to 31-20 in the Division I series.
• Senior Katelyn Skinner replaced an injured Lindsey Abed in the starting lineup, marking the first career start for the guard.

UP NEXT:                                                                     
Hartford has a week layover between contests as it returns to action with a road tilt at Boston College on Wednesday, Dec. 9. The battle between the Hawks and Eagles is slated for a 7 p.m. opening tip from Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Mass.