THE BASICS:

RESULT: UMass 63, Hartford 57
RECORDS: Hartford (4-7); UMass (5-6)
LOCATION: Mullins Center (Amherst, Mass.)
ATTENDANCE: 256

THE LEAD: Junior Deanna Mayza paced all scorers with 16 points, but the University of Hartford women's basketball was unable to hold on to a 20-point, halftime advantage as it dropped a 63-57 decision at UMass. It was a true tale of two halves as the Hawks led for all but 100 seconds in the contest, until a pair of free throws from Alyx Stiff tied up the score for the first time since the opening tip at 57-all with 1:40 to go. From there, the Minutewomen , who ended the game on a 12-0 run, used an old-fashioned three-point play from Rashida Timbilla to seal the win with 24.4 seconds left to play. Timbilla led UMass with 13 points.

FIRST HALF:
Four three-pointers in the first 6:20 provided the Hawks with a nice 18-7 lead. UMass closed the gap down to seven at 18-11 on back-to-back layups from Maggie Mulligan and Stiff, but a turnaround jumper off the glass by Darby Lee pushed the lead back to nine (20-11) at the end of the first.

The start of the second quarter was all Hartford. After spotting the Minutewomen two points on an Alyssa Lawrence jump shot, the Hawks took over for the next five minutes. During that stretch, Hartford rallied for its largest run of the season. Scoring 19 unanswered points – nine of which came from long range from three different Hawks in La'Trice Hall, Katelyn Skinner and Mayza – Hartford built its largest lead of the season of 26 points at 39-16 with 3:37 left.

In the closing minutes of the half, the Minutewomen put together a rally of their own to make the margin slimmer at the half. Outscoring the Hawks, 8-2, over the final 3:12, UMass cut Hartford's lead to 20 (41-21) at the break. Mayza paced all scorers at the break with 11 as the Hawks turned in season-best, first-half numbers in scoring (41) and field goal percentage (51.6%).

SECOND HALF:
The rims weren't as forgiving for the Hawks in the second half. A cold start that saw Hartford misfire on its first seven shots allowed UMass to cut into the lead. Using an 10-0 run to open things up, the Minutewomen held the Hawks off the scoreboard for the first seven minutes of the third, until a pair of free throws from Darby Lee stopped the bleeding for Hartford. Those freebies, followed by the Hawks' first field goal of the half on a Mayza layup with 2:20 left, pushed the lead back to 14 at 45-31.

But that cushion would not be large enough, as UMass stormed back. Closing the gap to 12 (50-38) before the end of the third, the Minutewomen opened the final stanza with a 6-0 spurt. With 6:40 left, Lawrence capped that run with a layup to make it a six-point game at 50-44. The Hawks clung on to their lead, and extended it back to six points thanks to back-to-back makes from Janelle Harrison with 2:44 remaining, before UMass closed out the game on a tear.

UMass would go on to end the game on a 12-0 run to lock up the come-from-behind victory. With 1:40 remaining, Stiff provided the game's first draw (57-57) since the opening tip before Cierra Dillard gave the Minutewomen their first lead of the contest after making the front end of two free throws 20 seconds later. A fast break layup by Dillard, followed by an old-fashioned three-point play from Timbilla out of a missed three-point attempt by Hartford, sealed the win with 24 ticks left. In that final period, the Minutewomen outscored the Hawks, 25-7, going 11-for-12 from the charity stripe to steal the victory.


INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• The Hawks put together one of their best opening halves of the season, recording season-best numbers in points (41), field goal percentage (51.6%; 16-of-31), and three-point field goal percentage (58.3%; 7-of-12).
• In addition, Hartford was sharp on the defensive end in the first half, as it held UMass to just 28.6 percent shooting (8-of-28). That first-half clip is a season-best defensive effort for the Hawks.
• Five of the eight Hawks that recorded a shot attempt in the first half converted on at least 50 percent of their shots.
• The 41 points scored by the Hawks in the first half surpassed the team's point total in each of their last three outings. Hartford had 28 points at Boston College (Dec. 9), 36 against Dartmouth (Dec. 12) and 29 against Arizona State (Dec. 14).
• The rims weren't as forgiving for the Hawks in the second half, as the combined to go just 5-of-23 for 21.7 percent. Just one three-pointer was hit during that stretch, as Hartford combined to go 1-for-5 from long range
• Conversely, UMass made 15-of-37 from the floor in the second half (40.5%), to finish the game at 35.4 percent (23-for-65).
• The Hawks held a 41-36 advantage on the boards, paced by six from Harrison.

NEWS & NOTES:

• Handing out five dimes, Mayza passed two former Hawks (Jackie Smith, Angie Pezzetta) on the all-time assists list to move into sixth place. She has 297 on her career.
• Mayza, who has led the team in scoring seven times this season, recorded her seventh double-figure scoring contest of the season in the losing effort. She has scored in double-digits 35 times in her career.
• Hartford drops to 6-8 all-time against UMass.

UP NEXT:                                                                     
After a five-day break for the holidays, the Hawks will regroup in the Nation's Capital for a 7 p.m. contest at George Washington on Wednesday, Dec. 30.