A Heartbreaking Loss for the Hawks

The University of Hartford women’s basketball team was upset by UMBC (University of Maryland, Baltimore County) Sunday in the title game of the America East Championship. The 7th-seeded UMBC Retrievers defeated the top-seeded Hawks 48-46 at the Binghamton University Events Center.

“We are obviously disappointed,” said Hartford Head Coach Jennifer Rizzotti. “I have to commend and compliment UMBC for an amazing game. Playing as hard as we did this season guarantees that our team will be playing in the post-season.”

If they had won the America East tournament, the Hawks would have earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. But Hartford did win the America East regular season title, which gives the team a guarantee to play in the post-season. If the Hawks do not get an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, they will play in the WNIT.

Hartford made it to the championship game of the America East tournament for the third straight year. The Hawks beat No. 8 Albany by a score of 60-50 in a quarterfinal match on Friday, and they defeated 4th-seeded Binghamton, 56-46, in the semifinals on Saturday.

Saturday’s victory over Binghamton was Hartford’s 15th consecutive win.

For details of Sunday’s game, visit www.hartfordhawks.com. To read personal accounts of the tournament weekend from Jonathan Easterbrook, the play-by-play voice of Hartford women’s basketball – and to add your own comments – visit the Hawks Hoop-Blog, at http://hawksncaa.blogspot.com.

Video link: Experience the send-off the Hawks received from the Hartford cheerleaders and Pep Band as they headed off to Sunday's championship game.