THE BASICS:

RESULT: Maine 50, Hartford 44
RECORDS: Hartford (11-17, 7-8 AE); Maine (23-7, 14-1 AE)
LOCATION: Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion (West Hartford, Conn.)
ATTENDANCE: 1,701

THE LEAD:
The University of Hartford women's basketball team put together a solid second half, but came up short to the visiting Maine Black Bears on Senior Night in a 50-44 final. Facing a double-digit deficit midway through the final quarter, the Hawks came back in the game and closed the gap down to four points at 48-44 in the last minute, but they were never able to finish off the comeback bid.

Sophomore Janelle Harrison shot 3-of-5 from the field and 4-of-6 from the free-throw line to finish with a team-best 10 points while freshman Kelly Douglass was feeling it from long range, as she knocked down 3-of-4 from downtown to tally nine points. Maine landed two players in double figures, led by 15 from Sigi Koizar and 11 from Mikaela Gustafsson.

FIRST HALF:
The Hawks fell behind early in the first half, as Maine scored nine of the game's first 11 points to take an early 9-2 advantage with 3:18 left in the opening quarter. A quick offensive burst over a 67-second stretch would bring Hartford right back in the game. Starting the run with a nice putback, Harrison piggybacked a three from Douglass with a free throw to close the gap to 8-7 with 1:28 left before Maine's Liz Wood used a layup to push her team's back to three with 63 seconds remaining in the quarter.

The Hawks and Black Bears traded blows to open the second quarter. With 6:30 left, freshman Jalay Knowles drilled a baseline jumper to bring a five-point Black Bears' lead down to three at 15-12. But Maine pulled away over the final 5:26 of the half. Holding Hartford to just one bucket – another three-ball from Douglass – the Black Bears used an 8-3 run to stretch their advantage to 24-15 at intermission.

At the break, Douglass paced the Hawks with six points while sophomore Darby Lee added four.

SECOND HALF:
Knocking down 3-of-5 from behind the arc in the third, the Hawks reaped the benefits of a hot second half to stay within striking distance of the Black Bears, despite trailing by double digits on multiple occasions. Facing their third 10-point deficit of the third at 34-24 with 4:06 left, the Hawks quickly went to work. Over the next three minutes, Hartford trimmed its disadvantage down to a single possession and closed the gap to 34-31 using a 7-0 run with 72 seconds left. Harrison contributed four points to that rally, which also featured the third and final three-pointer from Douglass. But Maine would spoil Hartford's comeback bid, as it pushed its lead back to eight in the final minute of the stanza. Anna Heise would get a layup to fall before Koisar cashed in on a costly Hawks' foul from behind the arc with three ticks remaining on the clock. She converted on all three free-throw attempts to put her team in front by a 39-31 margin heading into the final quarter.

In the opening minutes of the fourth, junior La'Trice Hall, who scored all six of her points in the final quarter, closed the gap down to six with a layup before Maine responded with a 5-0 run to take its largest lead of the night (11) at 44-33 with 7:03 to go. Trailing by a 48-37 margin heading into the game's final three minutes, Hartford refused to go down easily. A three-pointer by senior Katelyn Skinner sparked a Hawks' rally that saw the home squad pull behind a 7-0 rally. Knowles contributed a putback to the spurt before Hall capped things off by hitting nothing but net from the baseline to make it a 48-44 ball game heading into the last minute. Unfortunately, Koizar halted Hartford's late charge and sealed the win for the Black Bears as a jump shot from the elbow with 26 seconds left to play put the contest out of reach.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• The Hawks struggled to convert from the field in the opening half, turning in a 21.4 percent effort (6-of-28), which included 2-for-13 shooting from behind the arc (15.4%).
• In the second half, Hartford turned things around and heated up on the offensive end. During that stretch, the Hawks hit 50.0 percent of their 22 field goal attempts, including 4-for-8 from long range, to remain within striking distance of the Black Bears.
• Pulling down 15 offensive rebounds, 11 of Hartford's points came on second-chance opportunities.
• Four Hawks came off the bench to combine for more than half (26) of Hartford's 44 points.
• Hartford's defense held Maine to a 25.0 percent clip from long range (4-for-16). The Black Bears entered the contest as the league's top three-point shooting team, averaging 6.7 makes per game prior to Wednesday night..

 
NEWS & NOTES:

• Prior to Wednesday's tip, Hartford's three seniors – Christie Michals, Mallory Shickora and Katelyn Skinner – were honored. During their four seasons, they have led the Hawks to a pair of appearances in the America East Championship and a WNIT appearance while making their presence known inside the classroom and within the local community.

UP NEXT:                                                                     
The 2015-16 regular season concludes with a trip to New York's capital city as the Hawks will battle the Albany Great Danes on Sunday, Feb. 28. Tipoff from SEFCU Arena is scheduled for 2 p.m. Fans who can't make the trip can catch the conference clash on ESPN3.