Albany, N.Y. ? Lisa Etienne scored a career-high 17 points, all in the first half, and Erica Beverly recorded a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds to lead league-leading Hartford to a 57-43 win over UAlbany in America East Conference women's basketball action on Wednesday evening at SEFCU Arena.
UAlbany (11-16, AE 9-5) took an early four point lead to start the game, but Hartford reversed the margin to go ahead 12-8 with 14:17 to play in the first half. UAlbany tied the game at 12-12 just over a minute later and took a 16-14 lead on a jumper by Britney McGee with 9:35 to play. The Hawks tied the game for the sixth and final time in the first period at 19-19 as Etienne hit a 3-pointer from the left side of the arc with 9:01 on the clock.
Hartford scored the next five points on back-to-back possessions, building a 24-19 advantage on a 3-pointer by Jamie McCabe. Etienne knocked down two free throws and Beverly hit a jumper in the paint to put the Hawks up seven, 32-25, with under a minute to play. UAlbany's Amira Ford converted two free throws with two seconds on the clock to set the halftime margin at 32-27.
Hartford (21-5, AE 11-2) started the second half with a 10-2 run to go up 42-29 midway through the second half. The Hawks continued to build their lead, getting ahead 51-36, as Hartford's Danielle Hood scored two of her 17 points with 5:33 left to play. UAlbany freshman Janea Aiken converted a 3-point play to cut the lead to 52-39 with 4:39 on the clock, but Hood connected on a free throw and a jumper in the paint at 3:25 to give Hartford back a 16-point advantage, 55-39.
UAlbany's Charity Iromuanya hit two free throws at 2:10, while Kristin Higy made a steal and finished with the fast break layup at 1:43, but the Great Danes would be unable to overcome the deficit.
“We played well for the first 15 minutes,” said UAlbany head coach Trina Patterson, whose team had won seven of its last eight games entering tonight's contest. “We needed to focus for 40 minutes. We knew this was a very aggressive and defensively stingy team.”
Senior Gia Sanders, who was honored along with classmates Higy, Sherri Mikus and Kelly Martinson in a pre-game ceremony, led the Great Danes with 11 points and also grabbed five rebounds. Higy earned America East player of the game accolades after scoring nine points and finishing with a team-high 10 rebounds and two steals. McGee added eight points, four assists and two steals.
Katie Kelley's ten boards helped Hartford out-rebound the Great Danes by a 46-37 margin. Hartford's defense also held UAlbany to 29.6-percent (16-54) shooting from the floor to hold the Great Danes to their lowest point total of the season.
Hartford 57, UAlbany 43 (2/27/08 at Albany, N.Y. (SEFCU Arena))
Official Basketball Box Score
Hartford vs ALBANY
2/27/08 7:00 p.m. at Albany, N.Y. (SEFCU Arena)
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VISITORS: Hartford 21-5, AE 11-2
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
24 Danielle Hood....... f 7-15 0-0 3-6 3 1 4 3 17 2 4 0 0 23
32 Erica Beverly....... f 5-10 0-0 1-4 5 7 12 1 11 0 1 1 2 25
04 Jamie McCabe........ g 2-7 2-7 0-0 0 1 1 0 6 0 0 1 1 24
23 Lisa Etienne........ g 6-13 1-3 4-4 1 3 4 3 17 1 4 0 0 29
33 MaryLynne Schaefer.. g 0-5 0-4 0-0 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 1 22
01 Jackie Smith........ 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 7
10 Courtney Gomez...... 0-4 0-4 0-0 1 0 1 2 0 5 1 0 1 22
21 Jonyce Hollins...... 0-0 0-0 1-2 1 2 3 0 1 0 1 1 0 11
22 Mary Silvia......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5
40 Diana Delva......... 2-4 0-0 1-2 5 3 8 3 5 0 2 2 0 16
44 Katie Kelley........ 0-1 0-0 0-0 2 8 10 2 0 1 1 0 0 16
TEAM................ 1 2 3
Totals.............. 22-60 3-19 10-18 19 27 46 17 57 10 16 5 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-31 41.9% 2nd Half: 9-29 31.0% Game: 36.7% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-11 18.2% 2nd Half: 1-8 12.5% Game: 15.8% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-4 100 % 2nd Half: 6-14 42.9% Game: 55.6% 3
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HOME TEAM: ALBANY 11-16, AE 9-5
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
15 Mikus, Sherri....... f 2-3 0-0 0-0 2 2 4 2 4 0 2 0 0 21
24 Sanders, Gia........ f 5-15 1-5 0-0 2 3 5 3 11 1 1 1 2 36
31 Higy, Kristin....... f 3-8 0-4 3-4 5 5 10 4 9 0 2 0 2 32
02 McGee, Britney...... g 3-6 0-2 2-4 1 1 2 3 8 4 7 0 2 35
05 Thrower, Tanika..... g 0-5 0-1 0-0 0 2 2 1 0 0 3 0 1 15
01 Ford, Amira......... 0-3 0-0 2-2 1 2 3 1 2 0 1 0 1 11
10 Aiken, Janea........ 3-8 0-3 1-1 1 3 4 2 7 0 1 0 0 22
14 Clements, Kim....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 4
23 Iromuanya, Charity.. 0-5 0-0 2-2 1 2 3 3 2 1 0 0 1 18
55 Peterson, Kirsten... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 6
TEAM................ 1 1 2
Totals.............. 16-54 1-15 10-13 13 24 37 21 43 6 20 1 9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-28 39.3% 2nd Half: 5-26 19.2% Game: 29.6% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-5 0.0% 2nd Half: 1-10 10.0% Game: 6.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-8 62.5% 2nd Half: 5-5 100 % Game: 76.9% 1
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Officials: John Riordan, Colleen O'Connor, Pam
Technical fouls: Hartford-None. ALBANY-None.
Attendance: 213
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Hartford...................... 32 25 - 57
ALBANY........................ 27 16 - 43
