THE BASICS:

RESULT: New Hampshire 53, Hartford 42
RECORDS: Hartford (11-16, 7-7 AE); UNH (11-16, 5-9 AE)
LOCATION: Lundholm Gymnasium (Durham, N.H.)
ATTENDANCE: 384

THE LEAD: Sophomore Darby Lee registered her fourth-straight game in double figures on Saturday, but it wasn't enough for the University of Hartford women's basketball team as it fell at New Hampshire, 53-42, at Lundholm Gymnasium. Finishing with 15 points behind 7-for-14 shooting from the field, Lee paced the Hawks in scoring for the fourth time in as many outings.

The Hawks trailed, 24-21, at the break, but quickly fell behind by 11 in the third thanks to UNH's quarter-opening, 8-0 run. Despite trimming the gap down to four early in the fourth, Hartford would never recover from that rally. Two Wildcats finished in twin figures as Ashely Storey netted 14 points and Stephanie Spoto added 12.

FIRST HALF:
The Hawks struggled to convert from the field in the first half, especially early on in the game. Junior L'Trice Hall got the squad on the scoreboard with a layup 71 seconds in, but then a cold spell featuring five missed baskets over the next four minutes allowed New Hampshire to jump out to an 8-2 advantage. A three from freshman Kelly Douglass followed by a Lee jumper closed the gap to a single point with 4:12 left, but another scoring spell would plague the Hawks as they came up empty over the final four minutes. A layup from Spoto with 3:45 left in the quarter provided UNH with the 10-7 lead at the end of the stanza.

Hartford improved on a 3-for-17 start and remained within striking distance of the Wildcats, despite a hot quarter from the Wildcats. During that stretch, UNH went 6-for-7 from the field, with three-pointers on back-to-back possessions from Kristen Anderson erasing 16-14 and 18-17 Hartford edges - its lone advantages of the game. The squads would go on to trade layups before a bucket by Spoto gave UNH a 24-21 edge heading into the halftime break. The Hawks shot 29.0 percent (9-of-31) in the first and were led by eight points from Lee and six from Douglass.

SECOND HALF:
The Hawks dug themselves into a hole in the opening minutes of the third and were never able to recover. Over the first 2:25 of the quarter, UNH rattled off an 8-0 run to extend its lead to 11 points at 32-21. Hartford slowly clawed its way back, as it closed the gap down to eight (38-30) by the end of the third on a pair of Harrison free throws with 29.2 seconds left.

Opening up the final quarter with a 6-2 spurt behind four points from Lee and two more Harrison free throws, Hartford trimmed its deficit down to four points (40-36) with 8:45 left. But the Hawks' comeback bid would be halted, as UNH answered back with six unanswered points of their own to regain their double digit edge with 3:42 left on the clock.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Lee registered her fourth-straight game in double figures against the Wildcats as she finished with a game-best 15 points.
• She shot 50.0 percent (7-for-14) from the floor to finish as the Hawks' leading scorer for the fourth-straight outing.
• Overall, Hartford finished the game shooting 28.8 percent (15-of-52) to UNH's 50.0 percent (22-of-44).
• Defensively, the Hawks forced the Wildcats into 19 turnovers, scoring 12 points off those miscues.
• Hartford's opponents are averaging 15.8 turnovers over the last eight contests.
• Harrison added nine points behind a 7-for-8 effort from the free-throw line..

NEWS & NOTES:

• The Hawks split the regular-season series with New Hampshire with Saturday's loss.
• The all-time series between Hartford and UNH is now tied up at 33-33.

UP NEXT:                                                                     
Hartford concludes its home slate on Wednesday as it hosts the Maine Black Bears on Senior Night at 7 p.m. Prior to the opening tip, the Hawks will honor seniors Christie Michals, Mallory Shickora and Katelyn Skinner, who will be making their final regular-season appearances at the Reich Family Pavilion.