THE BASICS:

RESULT: Hartford 51, Vermont 47
RECORDS: Hartford (6-10, 2-1 AE), Vermont (5-12, 0-4 AE)
LOCATION: Patrick Gymnasium (Burlington, Vt.)
ATTENDANCE: 481

THE LEAD: A strong performance from the Hawks' post players helped lead the University of Hartford women's basketball team to a 51-47 road win at Vermont on Saturday afternoon. The Hawks' bigs combined for 40 points, paced by a career-high effort of 18 points from sophomore Janelle Harrison. Junior La'Trice Hall contributed 10 points, including a pair of game-clinching free-throws with 8.9 seconds left to play.

The Hawks led for all but 98 seconds of the game, but Vermont made rallied back from a 10-point deficit and tied things up at 46-all late in the game. After Harrison knocked down a key jump shot from the free-throw line to break the tie, Hall converted from the charity stripe to push a 49-47 lead to four in the final seconds. Andreana Thomas led Vermont in the losing effort with a game-best 21 points.

FIRST HALF:
The Hawks put together a solid first quarter, as a well-balanced scoring attack helped the visiting squad erase a brief, 5-2 deficit and take a lead they would hold on to until late in the contest. Holding Vermont scoreless for a stretch of over four minutes, Hartford wheeled-off an 11-0 run during that stretch to go up, 13-5, with 4:42 remaining in the stanza. Five different players contributed buckets to that offensive burst, which was sparked by a deep two-pointer from Hall and capped by a layup from Jalay Knowles. Vermont did pick up the pace by the end of the quarter, though, as a three-pointer from way beyond the arc at the buzzer from Thomas cut the lead down to three (21-18).

Big performances from Hartford's post players helped the Hawks stretch their three-point advantage into double-figures before the end of the second quarter. All but two of Hartford's 16 points of the second quarter were scored by post players, with Harrison leading the way with six. The Hawks led by as many as 12 points before Kylie Lavelle closed the gap to 37-27 before the break with a pair of free-throws in the final minute of the half.

SECOND HALF:
Vermont came out of the halftime break with momentum. Opening the half with back-to-back triples within a 31-second stretch from Thomas and Kylie Atwood, Sydney Smith continued the Catamounts' run and cut Hartford's lead to two with a jumper at the 7:22 mark.

The Hawks would cling on to their lead, until two-straight layups from Thomas made it a new ball game at 46-46 with 2:20 left to play in the game. Harrison provided Hartford with some breathing room, knocking down a jumper from the free-throw line to make it a two-point, but a 1-for-2 effort from the line on the other end from Smith closed the Hawks' lead to 48-47 with 46.7 seconds left.

Following a free-throw from Harrison that regained the Hawks' two-point edge, Hall came up huge for her team in crunch time. Grabbing a big defensive rebound on a missed floater in the paint from Thomas, she drew a foul on the play and calmly knocked down two shots from the free-throw line to seal the game.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Harrison had 14 of her team-best 18 points in the first half alone, contributing six points in an 8-0, second-quarter run.
• In the second quarter, all but two of the Hawks' 16 points were scored by post players (Harrison-6, Hall-4, Lee-2, Knowles-2).
• Both teams shot well in the opening half, with Hartford making 15-of-32 attempts from the field for 46.9 percent. The Catamounts went 47.4 percent from the field (9-of-19), and converted on half of their 10 three-point attempts in the first half.
• Second-chance opportunities coupled with Vermont turnovers also helped the Hawks build their 10-point halftime advantage. Hartford scored 10 points on second-chance opportunities, and had 21 points off of 15 Catamounts' miscues.
• Overall, the Hawks turned 21 Vermont turnovers into 23 points and had 14 points off second-chance opportunities.
• The Hawks closed out the game shooting 37.7 percent (20-of-53), but were just 1-for-7 (14.3%) from three-point land, marking a season-low effort in long range makes and attempts..
• Conversely, Vermont made seven three-pointers in 20 attempts (35.0%), and was 38.1 percent from the floor (16-of-42).
• The 21 turnovers forced by the Hawks were a season-best, while the 14 steals also marked a season-high effort in the category. Freshman Lindsey Abed came away with five thefts, a career-high that marks the most by a Hawk in a single game this season.

• Hartford shot 71.4 percent from the charity stripe on a 10-for-14 effort.

NEWS & NOTES:

• Harrison bettered her previous career-high (15 points) by three points, as she finished with a team-high 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field and an 6-of-8 effort from the free-throw line.
• Freshman Jalay Knowles also had a career day in scoring with six points.
• The Hawks are now 31-36 in the all-time series with Vermont, but have now won the last nine games against the Catamounts.
• Head coach Jennifer Rizzotti picked up career win number 311 on Saturday.

• Hartford was playing without its starting guard and leading scorer Deanna Mayza (11.7 ppg, 4.0 apg). She went down in the Binghamton game with a shoulder injury.

UP NEXT:                                                                                                                              
Hartford has a quick turnover between games, as it returns to action on Monday, Jan. 18, with a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day matchup at Stony Brook. Tipoff from Island Federal Credit Union Arena is scheduled for 5 p.m.