WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - Hartford women's basketball hosted the Western New England Golden Bears on Wednesday night and defeated them in strong showing finishing 58-45.

Rapid Recap:

• The first quarter got out to a gritty defensive battle with only 13 total points being scored combined in the first 10 minutes of play. Junior Ava Naszimento (Secaucus, N.J.) started the scoring off for the Hawks, netting back-to-back baskets to get Hartford on the board. On the other side of the ball, the Hawks defense held true, not allowing a single point for the first eight and a half minutes into the quarter. Freshman Gabrielle Matthews (Raleigh, N.C.) led the charge on defense, making multiple crucial stops to build the Hartford lead.
• Much like quarter one, the defensive battle continued with both teams keeping the scoring at a minimum. Junior Sidnee Bowden (Canton, Ohio) led the way in scoring in the second quarter, knocking down a momentum-building three from the wing. The sloppy play continued from both sides, however, with 13 combined turnovers.
• WNE came out of the half firing, picking up a quick basket to get the scoring started in the third quarter. The Hawks would respond back, finding their stride on offense as freshman Allie Shenloogian (Park Ridge, N.J.) picked up eight points in the quarter. Naszimento also continued her domination in the paint, picking up six more points down low.
• To start the fourth quarter, the Hawks kept rolling, growing their lead to as large as 17 points. The Golden Bears would not go down without a fight however, making a string of plays on both ends of the floor to slash into their deficit. Hartford's lead was cut all the way down to just five points with just two minutes left on the game clock. Despite the scare, the Hawks would put the nail in the coffin after a pair of three point plays from Shenloogian and junior Lauern Sabia (Simsbury, Conn.), taking home the victory by the score 58-45. With the win, Hartford improves to 8-2 within conference play this season.

Post Game Press:

• "We came out with 100% energy," said freshman Allie Shenloogian (Park Ridge, N.J.). "We really wanted this win tonight because we lost to this team earlier in the season, but our team has worked so hard and deserved it. Our team prides ourselves on defense a lot and when we take our defense to the next level it builds into our offense."
• "In a good conference like we are in, it was a defensive battle tonight, I am really proud of this group for buying into the game plan," said Head Coach Jackie Smith. "WNE arguably has one of the best players in the league Sophie Hedge, we were trying to shut her down and kudos to her and our team for the battle today. We showed a lot of maturity, understanding that we will find buckets as we can and it shouldn't affect us offensively, super proud of this team."

Inside the Numbers:

• Shenloogian and Naszimento led the scoring for the Hawks with 16 points a piece. Shenloogian went 5-8 from the floor, and 6-7 from the line The freshman also picked up seven boards, two steals and an assist in the home victory. Naszimento was 7-10 on field goals and 2-3 from the charity stripe. Naszimento also added eight rebounds and two steals to her stat line.
• Perry Blasetti and Sophie Hedge led the Golden Bears in scoring, being the only two members of Western New England to eclipse double digit point totals.
• A key metric for the Hawks success in this one was their dominance on the glass, as Hartford brought home 11 more rebounds, outpacing the Golden Bears by a total of 36-25.

Up Next:
Next time out, the Hawks will host Johnson and Wales University for Alumni Night at Chase Family Arena on January 31st. Tip-off for the Conference of New England (CNE) slugfest is set for 1:00 PM

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