THE BASICS:

RESULT: Stony Brook 45, Hartford 42
RECORDS: Hartford (9-14, 5-5 AE), Stony Brook (16-8, 8-3 AE)
LOCATION: Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion (West Hartford, Conn.)
ATTENDANCE: 803

THE LEAD: The University of Hartford women's basketball team was unable to hold on to a third-quarter lead, as it was topped by the visiting Stony Brook Seawolves, 45-42, on Monday at Reich Family Pavilion. The Hawks led for the first 25 minutes of the contest, but the Seawolves broke open a tied ball game at the end of the third by opening the final quarter with an 11-4 run.

In the closing minutes, Hartford managed to pull back within one at 43-42 with 2:23 left, but was held scoreless for the remainder of the game. Senior Katelyn Skinner paced the Hawks with 11 points on 4-for-5 shooting from the field including a 3-for-4 clip from downtown while Christa Scognamiglio led the Seawolves with 12 points.

FIRST HALF:
Both teams were sluggish out of the gates, as they combined for an 0-for-10 start from the field, including 0-for-6 shooting from Hartford. But it was the Hawks who got the offense going first, as sophomore Darby Lee got the squad on the board with a layup with 6:13 left before rookie Kelly Douglass got an easy bucket out of a steal at midcourt just 14 seconds later. Douglass added a pair of free throws to make it a 6-0 lead for Hartford with 5:07 left. Hartford's defense was stifling during that stretch, as it forced six turnovers and held Stony Brook to just one field goal – an Elizabeth Manner layup with 3:16 left – to take a 10-3 advantage by the end of the session.

Hartford continued to attack early in the second quarter, as a 7-3 spurt featuring the first of three three's from Skinner pushed the home team's lead into double figures at 17-6 with 8:03 left. But momentum shifted, and Stony Brook took advantage of a cold spell from the Hawks. Over the next six minutes, the Hawks missed five-straight field goal attempts, allowing the Seawolves to cover some ground and cut the lead to two at 17-15 with nine unanswered points. Freshman Lindsey Abed's layup at the 2:03 mark ended the Hawks' scoring drought before Skinner pushed the lead back to seven 33 seconds later with another triple. A 1-of-2 effort from the line with 30 seconds left by Scognamiglio would provide the halftime score of 22-16.

Skinner's six points led all scorers at the break.

SECOND HALF:
After committing just five turnovers in the first half, the Hawks tallied four miscues in the third quarter alone, spotting the Seawolves five points off those miscues. Those points allowed Stony Brook to creep back into the game, as it used an 8-0 run featuring back-to-back three-pointers from Aaliyah Worley to tie up the contest (24-24) for the first time since opening tip with 6:09 left in the third. The stanza would feature two more ties, and the teams entered the final quarter with the score knotted up at 32-32.

The Hawks broke open the deadlock by opening the fourth with a layup from Douglass before a three-pointer from Davion Wingate – her first of two within a 90 second stretch – provided the Seawolves with their first advantage of the night at 35-34 with 9:02 remaining. The offense continued to roll for Stony Brook, as it built its lead up to 43-36 thanks to another triple – this one from Scognamiglio – with 3:38 to go.

Hartford managed to get defensive stops, though, and Skinner and Abed went off from downtown with three-pointers 57 seconds apart to pull the Hawks within a point at 43-42 with 2:23 to go. Down the stretch, the Hawks produced three looks out of Stony Brook misses, but Lee misfired on two possessions before Knowles came up short on an up-and-under move out of a timeout with 38 seconds left. Out of another timeout, the Seawolves put the ball in Scognamiglio's hands, who ran the shot clock down out and the guard took it to the rim to increase the visiting team's lead to three (45-42) with eight seconds remaining. Hartford burned its final timeout to draw up a play, but Stony Brook still had fouls to give to prevent the Hawks from getting the potential game-tying shot off in the final seconds.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Both sides suffered from a cold start, combining to miss their first 10 shots. The Hawks suffered from an 0-for-6 to start before getting on the board with 6:13 left in the first while the Seawolves misfired on their first seven shots of the game.  
• It proved to be a cold first half for both teams as Stony Brook shot 21.7 percent (5-of-23) to Hartford's 26.7 percent (8-for-30).
• Nearly one-third of Stony Brook's 16 first-half points came from the charity stripe, where the squad went 5-for-9.
• Hartford forced 11 first-half turnovers, scoring five points off those miscues.
• The Hawks had just five turnovers in the first half, but went on to commit six in the final half for 11 on the night.
• Led by Skinner's 11 points (4-5 FG, 3-4 3-PT FG), the Hawks received 17 points from their bench as Knowles (4 points) and Reaves (2 points) rounded out the scoring.
• Hall and Lee each grabbed a team-best eight rebounds, adding four and seven points, respectively.
• Scognamiglio had 12 points, adding a three-pointer while going a perfect 4-for-4 inside of the arc. She added eight rebounds for the Seawolves while Anyagaligbo had nine points and 10 boards.

NEWS & NOTES:

• Skinner has knocked down at least one shot from three-point land in each of the last six games, combining for 14 makes during that stretch.
• She has converted on three triples in each of the last two games.
• The 11-point effort marks the fourth double figure scoring game for Skinner, who has paced the team in scoring five times this season..

UP NEXT:                                                                     
The Hawks hit the road for Vestal, N.Y., on Thursday, Feb. 11, with hopes of avenging last month's 53-47 loss suffered at the hands of the Binghamton Bearcats. The Hawks and Bearcats are slated for a 7 p.m. tipoff from the Events Center.