THE BASICS:
 
RESULT: UAlbany 67, Hartford 65
RECORDS: Hartford (17-14); UAlbany (20-11)
LOCATION: Cross Insurance Arena (Portland, Maine)

THE LEAD:
 
The University of Hartford women's basketball team's 2016-17 season came to an end in heartbreaking fashion, as the sixth-seeded Hawks suffered a 67-65 defeat to second-seeded UAlbany in the semifinal round of the America East Championship on Saturday. The Hawks finished the season with a 17-14 record, marking the most wins for the program since 2012-13.

Bailey Hixson led all scorers with 22 points, accounting for six of the Great Danes' nine three-pointers in the contest. Hartford, which trailed by 10 with 1:44 left in the third quarter, tied up the game with a 13-3 run capped by a Deanna Mayza three-pointer with 5:51 left, but was never able to grab the lead. Mayza, a senior, joined Lindsey Abed with 14 points to lead the Hawks.

FIRST HALF:
UAlbany used a pair of rallies to jump out to a double-digit lead by the end first quarter. The Hawks jumped out to a 4-2 lead, but saw their advantage disappear thanks to a 6-0 spurt from the Great Danes. At the 4:23 mark, UAlbany delivered a 12-2 run to push its advantage to 12 with 35 seconds left in the stanza. A jumper from Abed in the closing seconds made it a 10-point Hawks' deficit after one.

The Hawks trimmed a pair of double-digit deficits down to five on two occasions in the second quarter, but each time Hartford made a rally, UAlbany had an answer. With 2:48 left, Hartford closed the gap to 34-29, but a 7-2 spurt by the Great Danes again extended the lead back to 10 (41-31) with 79 seconds to go before halftime. The Hawks made one final push before the break, though, and managed to pull within seven (43-36) using a three-pointer and a putback from Sierra DaCosta in the last minute.
 
SECOND HALF:
Hartford kept pace with UAlbany in the third quarter, coming within six points of the Great Danes on a Mayza three in the opening minutes. The Hawks wouldn't come any closer in the stanza, but never let the deficit grow past 10 points. Trailing by 10 with 2:32 left, the Hawks made it a seven-point game at 55-48 by scoring the final three points of the quarter.

The Hawks mounted a comeback bid in the final quarter, as a 13-3 run capped by a Mayza three-pointer tied the game at 58-58 with 5:51 left. With the score again knotted up at 63-63 behind a clutch Abed three-pointer, UAlbany's Imani Tate's jumper with 2:02 left gave the Great Danes a 67-63 lead and proved to be the difference. Janelle Harrison made it a two-point game with 1:27 left, but the Hawks were unable to produce the tying or go-ahead bucket, despite two possessions down the final stretch.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• The Hawks shot 47.3 percent (26-of-55) in the contest, a mark that was slighted bested by UAlbany (49.1%; 26-of-53).
• Hartford forced 24 turnovers on the night, scoring 27 points off the Great Danes' miscues.
• The battle of the boards belonged to the Great Danes, as they held a 39-21 advantage.
• Junior Darby Lee also finished in double figures, scoring 11 points. She had an outstanding start to the tournament, connecting on her first 12 field-goal attempts.
• Harrison added 10 points to round out the Hawks' double-figure scorers.
• Jessica Fequiere had a double-double for the Great Danes on 13 points and 10 rebounds.

NEWS & NOTES:

• Concluding her first season at Hartford, head coach Kim McNeill posted a .548 winning percentage. Among McNeill's five predecessors at the Division I level, that mark is the best by debut by a Hartford coach.
• Mayza will graduate with her name peppered throughout the record books, finishing her career ranked second in assists (476), fourth in three-pointers (160), and tied for eight in scoring 1,222. With 88 career blocks, Reaves closed out her career ranked fourth in the category.