West Hartford, Conn. ? Danielle Hood totaled 18 points and nine rebounds in leading Hartford to a 60-40 victory over UAlbany in the America East Conference Tournament's semifinal round on Saturday, March 15 at Chase Arena. The Hawks, the regular-season champion and top seed, moved on to the championship game for the fourth consecutive year. The conference tournament champion receives an automatic NCAA berth.
Hartford (26-5) used a stifling defense that limited its opponent to just 24-percent shooting on 6-of-24 attempts after halftime. The Hawks led 38-33, but then held UAlbany (13-18) scoreless for the next five minutes. During that period, Diana Delva, a 6-foot-2 sophomore, scored in transition and MaryLynne Schaefer converted a back cut off a high-low exchange from Hood.
The Hawks, who have captured three America East titles since 2002, still led 47-38 with 9:03 remaining, but once again kept the UAlbany offense in check as the Great Danes were kept off the scoreboard for nearly seven minutes. Hartford ran off 11 unanswered during that span in running their winning streak to eight straight. Erica Beverly, who missed most of last season with an injury, had nine of her 15 points in that stretch. She finished off a fastbreak layup following Lisa Etienne's steal and later scored a pair of offensive-rebound baskets in providing her club with a 20-point margin. Etienne, a junior guard, accounted for 10 points, a career-high nine assists and four steals.
“The intensity of their defense definitely got us rattled,” said UAlbany coach Trina Patterson, whose team was held to a season-low point total and 30 percent from the field. “We had good team play at times, but not for the full forty minutes. I am proud of this team and their effort. Hartford has very talented and athletic post players. They just started to pound us in the second half.”
The Great Danes, who rallied to beat Binghamton, 64-57, in Friday's quarterfinals, led 15-10 after sophomore guard Britney McGee (9 points) canned a three-point field goal from the top of the arc midway through the opening period. UAlbany used a couple of conventional three-point plays to grab the lead. TaNika Thrower's steal led to Janea Aiken being fouled on a fastbreak layup. Freshman guard Amira Ford put her team in front when Hartford's Courtney Gomez was called for a blocking foul on a layup in transition.
The Hawks, who are receiving votes for the Associated Press Top 25 Poll, ran off nine straight markers to go back ahead. Etienne nailed a 3-pointer from right of the key, before Hood sank an 18-foot jumper. After UAlbany's Gia Sanders made a steal and three-point play to close the gap to 19-18, Hartford scored seven straight points. Etienne drilled a three-point shot from the right corner. Delva then connected on a lob over the top of the defense and scored after grabbing an offensive rebound for a 26-18 advantage.
Sanders, a 6-foot senior, had 11 of her 13 points in the opening half. Aiken, a freshman guard, scored in double figures for the second straight game with 12. The Great Danes, who had won nine of 12 entering the contest, were making their second-ever appearance in an America East semifinal.
“We lost because of the things we didn't do, not just because of what Hartford did to us,” explained Sanders, who added seven rebounds and three steals in her final game as a collegian. “They played a great game and really pressured us with their defense. They would be in a zone and then switch to man-to-man and throw us off.”
Hartford 60, UAlbany 40 (3/15/08 at West Hartford, CT)
Official Basketball Box Score
Official Basketball Box Score
ALBANY vs Hartford
3/15/08 5:05 p.m. at West Hartford, CT (Chase Arena)
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VISITORS: ALBANY 13-18, 10-6 AE
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
02 McGee, Britney...... * 3-7 2-4 1-2 0 3 3 3 9 2 4 1 0 33
10 Aiken, Janea........ * 5-10 0-2 2-5 1 1 2 2 12 1 1 0 0 31
23 Iromuanya, Charity.. * 0-3 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 2 0 1 3 1 1 23
24 Sanders, Gia........ * 5-12 0-1 3-3 1 6 7 3 13 0 0 0 3 37
31 Higy, Kristin....... * 0-9 0-2 1-2 2 1 3 0 1 0 3 0 1 20
01 Ford, Amira......... 1-2 0-0 1-1 1 2 3 2 3 0 0 0 1 9
05 Thrower, Tanika..... 0-3 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 2 13
14 Clements, Kim....... 1-3 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 2 0 1 0 0 9
15 Mikus, Sherri....... 0-1 0-1 0-0 1 1 2 3 0 0 1 0 0 16
55 Peterson, Kirsten... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 9
TEAM................ 2 3 5 3
Totals.............. 15-50 2-12 8-13 9 22 31 15 40 5 18 2 8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-25 36.0% 2nd Half: 6-25 24.0% Game: 30.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-4 25.0% 2nd Half: 1-8 12.5% Game: 16.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-9 55.6% 2nd Half: 3-4 75.0% Game: 61.5% 3
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HOME TEAM: Hartford 26-5, 14-2 AE
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
04 Jamie McCabe........ * 0-1 0-1 0-2 0 3 3 3 0 1 1 1 0 22
23 Lisa Etienne........ * 4-11 2-4 0-0 1 3 4 2 10 9 3 1 4 31
24 Danielle Hood....... * 7-11 0-0 4-4 3 6 9 1 18 3 2 1 0 25
32 Erica Beverly....... * 6-10 0-0 3-3 3 4 7 2 15 1 1 1 1 23
33 MaryLynne Schaefer.. * 1-7 0-4 2-2 1 3 4 2 4 0 0 0 0 30
01 Jackie Smith........ 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6
10 Courtney Gomez...... 1-3 1-3 0-0 0 1 1 1 3 0 2 0 0 13
21 Jonyce Hollins...... 1-3 0-0 0-0 1 4 5 0 2 0 0 0 1 15
22 Mary Silvia......... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 5
40 Diana Delva......... 4-8 0-0 0-2 5 1 6 2 8 2 1 0 0 21
44 Katie Kelley........ 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 1 0 0 3 0 0 9
TEAM................ 1 1 2 2
Totals.............. 24-58 3-13 9-13 15 28 43 15 60 16 16 4 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-27 44.4% 2nd Half: 12-31 38.7% Game: 41.4% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-7 28.6% 2nd Half: 1-6 16.7% Game: 23.1% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-4 100 % 2nd Half: 5-9 55.6% Game: 69.2% 1
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Officials: Denise Brooks-Clauser, Joanne Aldrich, Joe Vaszily
Technical fouls: ALBANY-None. Hartford-None.
Attendance: 1817
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
ALBANY........................ 24 16 - 40
Hartford...................... 30 30 - 60
2008 America East Championship Presented by Friendship Cottage Cheese
Semifinal Game 1 #1 Hartford vs. #4 Albany
Points in the paint-ALBANY 20,HART 38. Points off turnovers-ALBANY 13,HART 10.
2nd chance points-ALBANY 2,HART 15. Fast break points-ALBANY 10,HART 4.
Bench points-ALBANY 5,HART 13. Score tied-0 times. Lead changed-2 times.
Last FG-ALBANY 2nd-02:12, HART 2nd-00:38.
Largest lead-ALBANY by 5 1st-10:44, HART by 20 2nd-04:45.
