the Informer

Adam Manison

The No. 23-ranked University of Hartford Women’s basketball team earned a school record 16th consecutive victory Sunday afternoon with a 61-38 win over defending regular season champion Boston University.

The win clinched at least a share of the regular season America East Championship and the top seed in the upcoming tournament. Should the Hawks advance to the title game, it will be played on their home court.

Diana Delva scored 17 points and hauled down 13 rebounds while Erica Beverly added 11 points, eight rebounds, five blocks and two steals as the Hawks held the Terriers to just 28 percent shooting from the field.

It was the Hartford (14-0 23-3 AE) defense that built a quick 12-2 lead, with seven of those points coming in transition off of Boston (14-12 10-4) turnovers.

Back-to-back three’s from guards Jackie Smith and Ilicia Mathis pushed the Hawks lead to 18-4 with 9:21 left in the half while they held the Terriers scoreless for nearly five minutes.

Hartford, who led 23-13 at the half, held Boston to just six first-half field goals and forced them to miss eight of their nine three-point attempts.

“We were really determined to come out focused on the defensive end and take away what they like to do,” said Smith, who scored eight of her 12 points in the first half.

The second half belonged to Delva, who continued to make a case for the America East Player of the Year award. The senior made her way to the free throw line 14 times after the break while dominating the glass.

When a Terrier’s bucket from Caroline Stewart cut the lead 27-18, it was Delva who responded with four trips to the free throw line to put Hartford up 31-18 with 13:59 remaining.

When crafty guard Ilica Mathis wove through the Terrier’s defense and missed an off balance layup, Delva was there to snatch the offensive board and stick it back in with 6:43 remaining to push the lead to 42-25.

“She really stepped up in the second half,” added Smith of Delva, “we needed her to make some plays and she really came through for us.”

Mathis tied her season high with 14 points off of the bench and Ruthanne Doherty added 12 rebounds.

Many factors have contributed to the 16-game winning streak. After suffering a 68-47 setback at Marist in December, the Hawks switched the starting lineup to feature a more defensive oriented attack by inserting senior guard Jenna Peterson and freshman forward Doherty into the starting five.

That move, combined with the defense of Erica Beverly, who has guarded top opposition players from point-guards to centers while averaging 2.3 blocks per game, and the second best field goal percentage in the nation of 64.8 percent from Delva have worked wonders for the Hawks. The leadership and three-point shooting from Smith can’t be overlooked either, as the junior guard boasts the 4th best assist to turnover ratio of 1.3 in the conference.

With four players averaging over 15 minutes off of the bench the Hawks depth has proved to be a key for them as well. On Monday, the Hawks earned their first ever appearance in the AP Top 25 poll in the 24th slot.

“We want to make sure that we are continuing to get better so we are peaking during the tournament,” added Smith. “We still have our best basketball ahead of us.”

The Hawks, who played their final road game Wednesday night at Albany, host second-place Vermont on Saturday. The game will be the final regular season home game and honor seniors Delva, Beverly, Peterson and Kacey Pratt. The first matchup against the Catamounts came on the road in January. The Hawks use a stingy defense to hold the highest scoring America East team to just 36 points. Diana Delva led the way with 20 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks while scoring the game-winning basket with two seconds to play.