Sabia
Steve McLaughlin
58
U New England UNE 4-5,1-1 CNE
61
Winner Hartford Hart 2-5,1-1 CNE
U New England UNE
4-5,1-1 CNE
58
Final
61
Hartford Hart
2-5,1-1 CNE
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
U New England UNE 11 19 13 15 58
Hartford Hart 11 9 16 25 61

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Sabia's Big Night Pushes Hawks Past the University of New England

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - Sophomore Lauren Sabia (Simsbury, Conn.) knocked down a game-winning three-pointer with three seconds left for the Hawks on Saturday afternoon as Hartford defeated the University of New England by a 61-58 final to win their first Conference of New England (CNE) game on the year. 

Rapid Recap:
  • The Hawks were in front 5-2 early on with a jumper from freshman Maddie MacCannell (Portsmouth, N.H.) and a triple by Sabia. The lead extended to 11-2 with 2:21 to play in the quarter following a layup by sophomore Ella Marchesani (Saddle Brook, N.J.), MacCannell and Sabia. The Nor'Easters netted a 9-0 run to close the first quarter tied at 11 with the Hawks. 
  • UNE continued to thrive getting the next seven points in the game to push the lead to 18-11. Freshman Emma O'Hare (Drexel Hill, Pa.) stopped the run with a bucket. Sabia continued to keep the Hawks close with back-to-back trifectas, but the Nor'Easters responded with a run of their own to lead 30-20 headed into the half. 
  • The University of New England got the lead to 38-23 with 6:37 to play in the third quarter. Freshman Maya Okoro (Frisco, Texas) kick-started a 6-0 Hawk run with back-to-back layups in the paint, as the lead was back to single-digits. Sophomore Kendall Rieman (Chicago, Ill.) and Marchesani continued the comeback with layups of their own as the UNE lead was 43-36 headed into the final 10 minutes. 
  • Hartford got right back into the game with a six-point spurt highlighted by a driving layup by freshman Mikaela Williams (Windsor, Conn.) as the lead was trimmed to just three points. Sabia netted another three followed by three free throws tied the game up again at 48-48 with 5:13 to play. The Hawks took the lead with 1:58 on the clock as Sabia knocked down her fifth three of the night. The game found itself tied again with 30 seconds to play, but a Marchesani feed to MacCannell kept the Hawks in front 57-55. The Nor'Easters answered tying the score with five ticks left before Sabia ended the game with the three. 
Post Game Press:
"I went into timeout, not really thinking much, but I didn't expect the play to be for me", said sophomore Lauren Sabia (Simsbury, Conn.). "Once I came off that first screen I looked for my teammate didn't see much coming in and then I saw that she was giving me a little bit of space. Her hand was down. I released it, and immediately knew it was going in. It was just one of those games where it was all in my favor. This team in particular, coming from a transfer I've been through now two college teams. This one's very tight so we hang out inside of basketball outside of basketball, so all of the points don't really matter at this point all of it came off assists. I didn't really make any for myself, so it was just a great win."

"We grew up a lot today", said head coach Polly Thomason. "I think we've been the last few games playing like we're young and inexperienced and so today gave us a lot of experience as far as learning how to win, how to play from behind, not giving up, and just playing together. I feel like everybody came in and did a little bit something that we needed to do in order to be successful there was Mikaela Williams playing great defense. Ella knocked down some shots. I know she got in foul trouble but she still made good decisions. I think everybody just really came in and contributed for us today, which is what we want. It's what Hartford basketball is all about so I'm just really proud of our efforts."

Inside the Numbers:
  • Sabia scored a career-high 26 points (9-15 FG, 6-10 3PT, 2-4 FT) to go with four rebounds in the win. Marchesani tallied 10 points (3-7 FG, 0-2 3PT, 4-6 FT), three assists and three steals. MacCannell added six points (3-5 FG) and seven boards. 
  • Gabby Soter led the Nor'Easters with 15 points (2-4 FG, 1-1 3PT, 10-12 FT), seven rebounds, six assists and five steals. Faye Veilleux added 13 points (6-15 FG, 0-1 3PT, 1-4 FT), six rebounds, five steals and three assists. 
Up Next: 
The Hawks will host Wentworth Institute of Technology on Wednesday in the final game before winter break. 

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