Hawks' Historic Season Ends with Loss to Georgia

The Hartford women’s basketball team ended its storybook season with a 73-54 loss to Georgia Tuesday night in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Tuesday’s game brings Hartford’s record to 27-4, and closes the books on the best season in school history.

The players and coaching staff are scheduled to return to campus at about 1:30 this afternoon (Wednesday). If you would like to welcome them back and congratulate them on their spectacular season, you should come to the Sports Center at about 1:20 p.m.

Among their outstanding achievements this season, the Hartford women scored the first NCAA tournament win in school history, beating No. 6 seed Temple in the first round of the tournament on March 19. With that win, the 11th seeded Hawks advanced to Tuesday night’s second-round game in Trenton, N.J., against No. 3 seed Georgia.

The mere fact that the Hawks played in the second round of the NCAA tournament – against a team ranked 12th best in the country – brought Hartford’s women’s basketball program to a whole new level. Hartford stayed competitive with Georgia for a good portion of the game; the first half featured seven ties and five lead changes, with Hartford trailing by just three points at halftime.

This was Hartford’s second consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament, and its third in five years. The Hawks’ many impressive achievements this season included their second straight America East tournament championship, as well as their first-ever America East regular season championship.

If you would like to post messages for the team, visit the “Hawks Hoop-Blog” at hawksncaa.blogspot.com.

For full coverage of Tuesday’s Hartford vs. Georgia game, go to www.hartfordhawks.com.