West Hartford, Conn. - Ruthanne Doherty had 11 points and 12 rebounds as Hartford held off UAlbany, 48-43, in the quarterfinal round of the America East Conference Tournament on Friday, March 4 at Chase Family Arena. The Hawks have won nine of their last 10 contests.
Hartford (15-15) led 33-32 midway through the final period before running off seven unanswered. Daphne Elliott made two free throws, before Alex Hall connected on a three-point field goal from the left corner. Doherty banked in a 16-footer from the circle to complete the outburst.
UAlbany (16-14) rallied with a seven-point run of its own. Felicia Johnson (8 points) split the defense to make a foul-line jumper and Cassandra Callaway added a three-pointer from the right corner. Julie Forster put back Ebone Henry's missed layup to slice the deficit to 40-39.
The Great Danes, the tournament's fifth seed, had two opportunities to go in front, but Henry and Forster were not able to finish off a pair of drives. Hartford's Elliott, a sophomore guard who had 11 points, sank two free throws and Nikkia Smith drilled a 12-footer in the lane to extend the lead to a five-point margin.
UAlbany made one more run at the lead. After Elliott turned the ball over against full-court pressure, Callaway converted a turnaround in the lane off a spin dribble to close the gap to 44-43 with 47.6 seconds left. But the Hawks, who advanced to their seventh consecutive conference semifinal, were able to hold the lead at the foul line. Jackie Smith made two free throws and Elliott added another pair with 12.7 seconds to play.
"Each team fought hard and it was like a championship game," said UAlbany first-year head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson, whose team was held to 28.6-percent shooting. "We had a wonderful season and will miss our seniors. We played hard."
Both defenses dominated the first half, as Hartford took an 18-15 advantage to the intermission. The Hawks led by as much as 12-6 after Mary Silvia converted a back-door cut. UAlbany regrouped with seven straight points. Callaway had a three-point play and made two free throws to lead the uprising. Alex Hall's jumper put Hartford back in front.
Callaway, a junior guard, led all scorers with 17 points for the Great Danes, who ended the season with their most wins since the 1996-97 campaign.
Paw Prints: UAlbany (16-14) finished fifth in the America East Conference regular-season standings ... the Great Danes earned the No. 5 seed for the championship ... UAlbany has been seeded higher just three other times, all No. 4 seeds in 2004, 2005 and 2008 ... Hartford and UAlbany split their regular-season meetings ... the Great Danes won 46-43 on Jan. 8th and lost 61-56 on Feb. 5th ... Ebone Henry, who had eight points and seven rebounds, had her 14-game, double-figure scoring streak snapped ...the sophomore guard was named the conference's top defensive player this season and was a first-team All-America East selection ...Hartford has made three NCAA and two WNIT tournament appearances over the last five seasons.
Hartford 48, UAlbany 43 (03/04/11 at West Hartford, Conn., Chase Family Arena)
Official Basketball Box Score
Official Basketball Box Score
ALBANY vs HARTFORD
03/04/11 8:30 PM at West Hartford, CT (Chase Family Arena)
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VISITORS: ALBANY 16-14
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
01 Callaway, Cassandra. * 5-10 2-4 5-5 2 3 5 1 17 0 1 0 2 33
05 Henry, Ebone........ * 4-16 0-2 0-0 2 5 7 5 8 0 4 0 1 33
11 Forster, Julie...... * 2-7 0-0 0-0 6 3 9 4 4 1 1 1 2 33
21 Williams, Keyana.... * 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 2 0 0 0 0 2 10
22 Johnson, Felicia.... * 4-17 0-4 0-0 1 3 4 0 8 2 9 0 2 35
03 Basavand, Melia..... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
14 Clements, Kim....... 2-6 0-0 0-0 5 3 8 3 4 0 1 0 0 23
24 Jones, Adrienne..... 1-3 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 2 2 0 2 0 0 10
33 Makopondo, Tabitha.. 0-3 0-0 0-1 2 3 5 3 0 0 1 0 0 22
TEAM................ 4 1 5
Totals.............. 18-63 2-11 5-6 23 24 47 20 43 3 19 1 9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 6-28 21.4% 2nd Half: 12-35 34.3% Game: 28.6% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-3 0.0% 2nd Half: 2-8 25.0% Game: 18.2% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-3 100 % 2nd Half: 2-3 66.7% Game: 83.3% 1
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HOME TEAM: HARTFORD 15-15
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
01 Smith, Jackie....... * 1-4 1-2 2-2 0 0 0 4 5 4 2 0 1 24
02 Elliott, Daphne..... * 1-4 1-1 8-9 1 2 3 2 11 2 4 1 3 24
10 Hall, Alex.......... * 2-9 1-2 0-0 1 3 4 1 5 0 0 0 1 29
24 Doherty, Ruthanne... * 5-10 0-0 1-2 2 10 12 1 11 0 3 0 0 35
44 Smith, Nikkia....... * 2-3 0-0 2-2 0 0 0 4 6 0 2 0 2 14
03 Clark, Taylor....... 1-1 0-0 0-1 1 0 1 2 2 0 1 0 2 20
14 Weaver, Amanda...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 11
21 Mathis, Ilicia...... 0-2 0-1 0-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 15
22 Silvia, Mary........ 3-6 0-2 0-1 1 0 1 0 6 0 1 0 0 14
23 Englert, Alyssa..... 1-2 0-0 0-1 1 0 1 0 2 2 2 0 1 14
TEAM................ 7 7
Totals.............. 16-41 3-8 13-20 7 22 29 14 48 8 18 1 11 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 8-22 36.4% 2nd Half: 8-19 42.1% Game: 39.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-5 40.0% 2nd Half: 1-3 33.3% Game: 37.5% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 0-2 0.0% 2nd Half: 13-18 72.2% Game: 65.0% 1
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Officials: John Palermo, Heather Browne, Pam Lomerson
Technical fouls: ALBANY-None. HARTFORD-None.
Attendance: 1599
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
ALBANY........................ 15 28 - 43
HARTFORD...................... 18 30 - 48
2011 America East Women's Basketball Championship presented by Newman's Own
Quarterfinal #4 - Winner advances to face #1 UMBC
Points in the paint-ALBANY 24,HARTFORD 24. Points off turnovers-ALBANY 8,HARTFORD 23.
2nd chance points-ALBANY 8,HARTFORD 4. Fast break points-ALBANY 2,HARTFORD 2.
Bench points-ALBANY 6,HARTFORD 10. Score tied-2 times. Lead changed-9 times.
Last FG-ALBANY 2nd-00:48, HARTFORD 2nd-02:11.
Largest lead-ALBANY by 4 1st-19:02, HARTFORD by 8 2nd-06:38.
