HOUSTON – The HBU women's basketball team played excellent on both ends of the floor as they took down the Hartford Hawks 81-56 in Sharp Gym on Thursday night.
The Huskies (3-1, 0-0 SLC) used a combination of hot shooting and forcing turnovers to carry themselves to their third straight win.
Timia Jefferson got the scoring started for the Huskies right out of the gate, knocking down a pair of free throws. Hartford (0-3, 0-0 AEC) responded with a three ball and a made layup to go on a 5-0 run.
Julija Vujakovic made a three pointer and
N'Denasija Collins made a layup to briefly regain the lead for the Huskies. The Hawks again answered with a three ball of their own to take the slight edge, 8-7.
Enya Maguire responded with three pointer which then sparked a Husky 7-0 run to stretch the lead out 14-8. The teams would trade baskets for the remainder of the quarter and the Huskies would take a 23-22 lead into the break.
In the first quarter, the Huskies were able to force six turnovers including three steals and a couple of blocks. They shot 53.5 percent from the field, 40 percent from deep and were a perfect 5-5 from the charity stripe.
The Huskies played lock down defense in the second quarter, only allowing six total points and holding the Hawks to 30 percent shooting from the field and forced missed on all four of their three point attempts. The Huskies made a habit of getting to the foul line in the quarter, making eight of nine attempts for an 88.9 percentage. The Huskies closed out the quarter on a Vujakovic three pointer and a pair of made foul shots from
Lauryn Mapusua and took a 40-30 lead into halftime.
The Huskies had a huge second half, outscoring the Hawks 41-26. Jefferson had a huge third quarter for HBU, scoring 12 of her game-high 23 points in the period. She was four of six from the field in the quarter and made all four of her foul attempts. The Huskies once again shined in the fourth quarter, shooting 45.5 percent from the field while holding Hartford to just 33.3 percent shooting from the field and 16.7 percent from deep.
For the game, Jefferson led the Huskies in scoring with a game-high 23 points and set a new school record, making 13 free throws in the game. Collins had a tremendous game on both ends, adding 13 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals. Maguire had 10 points of her own and added five rebounds, two assists and a steal. Vujakovic stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, three rebounds, two assists, a steal and two blocks.
Marilyn Nzoiwu tied a team high with two blocks. Mapusua added 11 points on 8 of 10 shooting from the foul line.
Abbey Sutherland added seven points and was perfect from three point range.
For the Hawks, Paula Maurina had a team high 18 points and shot 6-11 from the field. Nina Faric added 13 points and Abbey Streeter added 12 points on 4-6 shooting from three point range.
The Huskies out assisted the Hawks 15-11, out blocked them 4-2, forced more turnovers, 33-19, and had more bench points 16-5. The Hawks led the Huskies in rebounding 37-30 and both teams made six three pointers.
The Huskies hit the road for the second time this year when they head to New Mexico to play The Lobos in Albuquerque on Tuesday at 8:00 PM.
