West Hartford, CT--The UMBC women's basketball (0-11, 0-2 AEC) team gave Hartford (11-2, 2-0) all it could handle before falling, 55-46, before 808 fans and a television audience at the Chase Family Arena.
UMBC fell behind, 13-8, before going on an 8-2 run, capped by a Mariana Santos' three-pointer to put the visitors ahead, 16-15, midway through the half. Hartford grabbed a 25-24 lead at intermission, despite the Retrievers hitting 5 of 10 from behind the arc.
The Hawks were never headed in the second half, but had to hang on as UMBC cut a 45-35 deficit to 50-46 with possession of the ball and under a minute to play. But an offensive foul was called as UMBC tried to inbound the ball, and the Hawks hit 5 of 6 free throws to seal the win.
Santos scored a career high 16 points, hitting 4 of 7 from the floor and 7 of 7 from the charity stripe. Anastasia Goncharova added 11 point, while Tyecia Powell provided strong support with 9 points (4 of 5).
UMBC was undone by 24 turnovers, as they held the Hawks to just 29.8% shooting (17 of 57) for the game. Hartford entered the game with wins over Virginia and Pittsburgh.
