WEST HARTFORD, Conn.  - The Hartford women's basketball team kicked off the weekend with an overtime thriller as they defeated Conference of New England (CNE) competitor Endicott College 69-63. This is the Hawks fourth in-conference win bringing their season overall record to 7-7 and in-conference play 4-1.

Rapid Recap:

• The Hawks opened up the scoring with a trip to the line as junior Ella Marchesani (Saddle Brook, N.J.) sank the first two free throws of the afternoon. The Gulls brought in an eight-point scoring run over the Hawks. The Hawks held strong in the paint chipping away at the Gulls lead as junior Taryn Blevins (St. Louis, Mo.) worked the ball around the arc and found the net to trail by just two. The two teams moved through the rest of the first trading points. Marchesani closed out the first ten minutes of play with a clean floater from the hands of Blevins right over the Gulls defense to bring the distance to just one, 12-11 moving into the next quarter.
• Tensions rose in this second quarter as both teams forced key steals to increase the intensity of this match-up. In a one-point game with six minutes remaining freshman Gabrielle Matthews (Raleigh, N.C.) was called for a technical foul sending a Gull to the line to put away both free points. The Hawks were fired up, Marchesani was a powerhouse all over the court putting up a big block that changed the trajectory of this second quarter. The Hawks took back the lead with freshman Allie Shenloogian (Park Ridge, N.J.) pulling the ball down off the glass and finding Marchesani to sink a big three bringing their lead to four over the Gulls, 21-17. With the Hawks taking more trips to the line and Marchesani lights out from the arc they pushed the distance to six points with less than 90 seconds remaining. The Gulls sequenced a big five point play in the final minute, just before Matthews drove up the lane to seal their lead heading into halftime up 29-26.
• The Hawks kicked off this third quarter with dominance claiming a five-point run early as senior Paige Loughman (Bernardston, Mass.) sunk a big three from deep grabbing their biggest lead at eight. The Gulls fought back hard tallying ten unanswered points to snatch back the lead 36-34. The Hawks struggled to find a stop on the Gulls as they drove through the line uncontested and forced turnovers all over the court to maintain their momentum. With under a minute remaining sophomore Maya Okoro (Frisco, Texas) earned herself a three-point play off of an and-1 to put a halt to the Gulls scoring streak. The Hawks were unable to cut down any more of their lead and closed this third down six, 44-38.
• Matthews dropped a big opening three over the Gulls' outstretched hands to set the tone as we headed into a tense final quarter. As the clock winded down each possession was more important than the last. The Hawks found themselves in some foul trouble in attempts to block the Gulls' quick drives to the hoop. With under five minutes to go the Hawks were still within arms reach as the score stood 52-45. Both teams went scoreless after multiple blocked possession until the Gulls' Emma Shinney drained one of the two shots at the line. Shenloogian added a huge three point play to cut the difference to five as she felt contact running towards the hoop. The Hawks felt the shift. Shenloogian received a pass from Matthews to knock down two more big lay-ups. Junior Lauren Sabia (Simsbury, Conn.) put up a big defensive block and a lay-up off of junior Ava Naszimento's (Secaucus, N.J.) offensive rebound to halt any chances for the Gulls to pull back into this game. With the Hawks up two, the Gulls earned a last-second foul for a game-tying chance. Aleah Bracey for Endicott calmly drained both chances at the line to send the teams into extra time.
• The Hawks were sharp, they came out firing Sabia and Matthews put away key two-pointers to push their lead over the Gulls. As the clock winded down, Marchesani stepped up dropping a three with 1:33 on the clock. Matthews sealed the deal for the Hawks as she grabbed the game winning three-pointer under pressure to lift the Hawks over the Gulls with a final overtime score of 69-63. 

Post Game Press:
"I am so proud of the team," said Head Coach Jackie Smith for the women's basketball team. "The grit, the understanding that we can take some hits, come back have the young guys play with confidence, that's a really really good team that we beat. It's not a surprise how well Gabby played today for those that are at practice everyday, she comes in and works, she gets better every single day. I am so glad that she got to display that in the game."

"We just work in practice, we grind, we specifically train for moments like this," said freshman Gabrielle Matthews (Raleigh, N.C.) "We were prepared to work and get this win, and it is really special especially on our home court to get it done. Coach makes our practices hard so we are prepared and we were able to come together as a team to get this win today."

Inside The Numbers:

• Marchesani lead the Hawks this afternoon adding an impressive 18 points to the scoresheet (5-9 FG, 3-6 3PT, 5-8 FT) along with taking home four rebounds, one block, and one steal. Next to lead was Shenloogian bringing in 13 points (6-16 FG, 0-1 3PT, 1-1 FT) she was huge in the paint today taking down seven rebounds to maintain possession, she forced two steals, and added four assists. Matthews was a powerhouse all over the court today to lead to the win she scored a total of 12 points (4-8 FG, 2-4 3PT, 2-4FT) pulling down five rebounds, three assists and one steal.
• Endicott's Aleah Bracey lead the team today with a total of 17 points (6-17 FG, 2-10 3PT, 4-4 FT) nabbing two rebounds, one assist, and two steals for the Gulls. 
• Hartford found their strength from their bench tonight going 30-13 with bench points over the Gulls, the Hawks were strong beyond the arc shooting at a 42.9% deep while the Gulls shot 12%

Up Next:
The Hawks will continue Conference of New England (CNE) play as they travel to Massachusetts to face off against Curry College this Wednesday, January 14th at 5:30 P.M.

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