THE BASICS:
 
RESULT: Hartford 71, Siena 62
RECORDS: Hartford (7-4); Siena (5-6)
LOCATION: Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion (West Hartford, Conn.)
PHOTO GALLERY
 
THE LEAD:
 
Four Hawks scored in double figures on Thursday morning as the University of Hartford women's basketball team grinded out a 71-62 victory against visiting Siena College. Junior Lindsey Abed paced a well-balanced offense with 15 points as the Hawks improved to 7-4 on the year with their fourth-straight win.

Seven of Abed's points came in the final 2:26, allowing Hartford to pull away from the Saints in what had been a tightly-contested game to that point. Kollyns Scarbrough and Emmanuella Edoka combined for 38 of Siena's points, scoring 21 and 17 points, respectively. 


 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 

• Hartford and Siena were neck-and-neck throughout the majority of the first half. The Hawks built a pair of five-point advantages during that stretch, including a 19-14 lead on a Mary Pattison three-pointer with 6:33 to go, but they were unable to build on their advantage.
• With 1:37 left in the half, Edoko converted on an old-fashioned three-point play to give the Saints their first lead (26-23) since the opening minute, but Hartford ended the half with a 5-0 run to take a 28-26 advantage into the intermission.
• The game continued to go back-and-forth after the break, as Hartford and Siena exchanged 12 baskets to the tune of a 41-39 Hawks' lead with 3:14 to go in the third. With the Hawks leading, 45-43, in the final seconds of the stanza, Abed knocked down her first field goal — a three-pointer at the buzzer — to put Hartford up, 48-43.
• A triple from Anna Lundquist pulled Siena within two at 50-48 two minutes into the final quarter. But Hartford picked up the pace and began to pull away from the Saints. With 4:08 to go, the Hawks pushed a 56-52 lead into double digits for the first time behind an 8-0 run.
• Abed contributed five points (two free throws, one three-pointer) before freshman Jade Young capped the run and gave Hartford its largest lead of the day — a 12-point edge at 64-52 — with a three-point play. The Saints managed to hang around, but a 7-of-8 effort from the free-throw line allowed the Hawks to seal the win for the sixth time in seven games.

 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• Each of the nine Hawks that saw minutes in the first half reached the scoring column, as Kelly Douglass led the way with six points at the break.
• Seniors Darby Lee and Janelle Harrison scored 13 and 12 points, respectively, while Young rounded out the Hawks' double-figure scorers with 10 points.
• The Hawks' defense forced Siena into 22 turnovers. It marked the seventh time this season that Hartford forced 20 or more miscues.
• The Hawks scored 21 points off of the Saints' miscues.
• Hartford turned in an impressive performance from the free-throw line, making 22-of-26 for 84.6 percent. The Hawks scored 17 more points than Siena from the charity stripe (22-5).
• Abed finished 9-of-10 from the line, while freshman Brielle Wilborn was perfect at 4-of-4.
• Young came one rebound shy of her first career double-double as she led the Hawks with nine boards.
• Edoka finished with a double-double, pulling down a game-best 12 rebounds.
• The Saints finished with the slight advantage on the boards (33-32) and outscored the Hawks 14-9, on second-chance opportunities.

 
NEXT ON TAP:
The Fordham Holiday Classic serves as the Hawks' final tune-up before the start of America East action. Hartford takes on the host-team Rams on Thursday, Dec. 28 (1 p.m.), in the opening game of the Classic before it faces either UC Davis or Yale on Friday, Dec. 29.