Hartford Women Headed to Title Game

The Hartford women upset the top-seeded UMBC Retrievers Sunday to make it to the title game of the America East Championship. Photo by Steve McLaughlin.

The Hartford men ended their season Sunday with a loss to Boston University in a close semifinal match. Photo by Steve McLaughlin.

The University of Hartford women’s basketball team is headed to the title game in the America East tournament after upsetting top-seeded UMBC 66-48 Sunday in the semifinals at Chase Arena.

The Hartford men also made it to the semifinal round, where they lost a close game to Boston University.

The fourth-seeded Hartford women will meet No. 2 seed Boston University in the championship game on Saturday, March 12, at 7 p.m. at BU. The winner will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. This will be the Hawks’ seventh appearance in the America East Championship game.

Follow www.HartfordHawks.com for updates on tickets and fan buses to the championship game in Boston.

A Successful Tournament Weekend on Campus

Players, coaches, and fans from throughout the Northeast converged on the University of Hartford campus this past weekend, as the University hosted the 2011 America East Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championship presented by Newman’s Own. All games took place at Chase Arena in the Reich Family Pavilion. This is the second year in a row that the University has hosted the combined men’s and women’s tournament.

Both Hartford teams won their quarterfinal matches. The fourth-seeded Hartford women beat No. 5 Albany, 48-43, on Friday night, and then went on to topple top-seeded UMBC, 66-48, in the semifinals on Sunday.

The sixth-seeded Hartford men upset No. 3 Maine, 66-63, in their quarterfinal match on Saturday. The men fell to Boston University, 55-49, in the semifinal round on Sunday. The BU men will play Stony Brook in the title game of the men's championship next weekend.

Sunday’s semifinal game brought the Hartford men’s season to an end, and ended the careers of five Hartford seniors, each of whom saw time on Sunday night. Milton Burton, Kevin Estes, Anthony Minor, Morgan Sabia and Joe Zeglinski were integral parts of head coach John Gallagher's inaugural season, which saw the Hawks win 11 games, their most since a school-record 18 wins in 2007-08.

For complete coverage of the men’s and women’s semifinal games, visit www.HartfordHawks.com.