THE BASICS:
 
RESULT: Florida Gulf Coast 70, Hartford 63
RECORDS: Hartford (1-1); FGCU (1-1)
LOCATION: Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion (West Hartford, Conn.)

THE LEAD:
 
The University of Hartford women's basketball team came up short to mid-major power Florida Gulf Coast on Sunday afternoon, falling 70-63 inside of Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion. Junior Janelle Harrison had an impressive stat line for the Hawks, compiling a double-double behind 18 points and 10 rebounds while adding three assists and a pair of steals. Senior Deanna Mayza added 15 points and six assists for Hartford, which faced a tied ball game at 63-63 with less than three minutes to go. 
 
Haley Laughter scored a game-best 18 points for the Eagles behind a 4-for-8 effort from long range. Overall, the Eagles knocked down 11 three-pointers, including six in the second half. Tytionia Adderly finished with a game-best 12 rebounds.

FIRST HALF:

Both sides went back-and-forth to start, but a stretch of hot shooting by Florida Gulf Coast saw the Eagles erase an 8-5 Hawks' edge and push ahead by the end of the opening quarter. Laughter scored the game's next eight points, including back-to-back three-pointers, before Jessica Cattani followed a jumper from Harrison with another triple to make it a 16-10 FGCU lead with 2:03 left. After an exchange of jumpers, Mayza closed the gap down to four (18-14) before the end of the stanza with a bucket at the buzzer. 

FGCU started to pull away from the Hawks in the second quarter. On two occasions, the Eagles took a seven-point advantage, leading 30-23 with 4:03 left behind back-to-back layups from Mikala McGhee and Jessica Cattani. But Hartford got hot at the end of the half, holding FGCU to one point from the free-throw line while scoring nine of its own to take a 32-31 lead in the halftime break.

Mayza got the rally going with a three-pointer at the 3:24 mark before Harrison went on a tear, scoring each of the Hawks' next six points, including a transition bucket that put her squad out in front.
 
SECOND HALF:

The Hawks were unable to contain FGCU's offense from long range in the early part of the third, as the Eagles connected on a trio of three's within the first six minutes. A put back by Laughter off a missed free throw capped an 8-0 run that pushed the advantage to 42-37 with just under four minutes left in the third. With the help of the free-throw line, Hartford stayed within striking distance, as it railed by three at the end of the quarter (47-44).

FGCU opened up the fourth in similar fashion, knocking two more three-pointers to make it a 53-48 advantage. But the Hawks responded with a spurt of hot shooting, as Mazya converted from downtown on back-to-back occasions to pull the Hawks within one (54-53) at the 6:43 mark. Following an Eagles' layup from Erica Nelson, freshman Sierra DaCosta sank a three of her own to draw Hartford even with 6:21 left. The two sides would find themselves tied up again, this time at 61-all, with 3:16 left, but a few empty possessions coupled with foul trouble by the Hawks allowed the Eagles to regain the edge and pull away with the game.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Mayza, who added six assists, registered double figures in scoring for the second-straight outing.
• Harrison, who scored in double figures for the 11th time in her career, posted her second career double-double (18 points, 10 boards).
• For the second time in as many games, Hartford finished even in rebounding as both sides registered 37 boards.
• The Eagles scored 22 points off of Hartford's 19 turnovers.
• Junior Darby Lee, who saw just four minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, added eight points and six rebounds in 20 minutes.
• Overall, the Hawks shot 41.5 percent from the floor, while FGCU went 40.0 percent, going 11-for-33 from long range.

NEWS & NOTES:

• The Hawks dip to 0-2 in the all-time series with Florida Gulf Coast.
• Mayza connected on her 100th and 101st career three-pointer, both of which came 25 seconds apart in the second half. She ranks 10th in made triples, needing six more to move into ninth-place in the record books.

 
UP NEXT:
The Hawks begin a two-game road swing on Wednesday, Nov. 16, when they travel to neighboring New Britain to take on Central Connecticut. Tipoff from Detrick Gymnasium is slated for 7 p.m.