Hartford WOMEN 73, Dartmouth 40
Hartford Opens With A Rout
Diana Delva said the Hartford post players worked hard to contest Dartmouth's shots Saturday afternoon. Dartmouth made only three shots in the first half. "I guess we did a pretty good job," Delva said.
Coach Jen Rizzotti agreed. She called her team's defense tremendous after the Hartford defeated Dartmouth 73-40 in the season opener in front of 1,522 at Chase Arena. It was the Hawks' 27th consecutive win at home, the longest streak in the country.
Hartford led the America East Conference in defense last year, allowing 53.9 points a game, so that's no surprise. What was a little surprising was how much offense the Hawks generated after losing top scorer Danielle Hood.
Delva, a junior center, led the way with 15 points on 7-for-10 shooting and played only 18 minutes. Sophomore guard Mary Silvia shot 6-for-8 and had a career-high 12 points in 19 minutes. Hartford, which shot 31 percent from the three-point line last season, hit seven three-pointers. None came from top three-point shooter MaryLynne Schaefer (0-for-3).
"The biggest difference in our offense this year is that we have more weapons," Rizzotti said. "Last year, Amanda and Mary were freshmen and they had limited opportunities. We really pounded the ball in the post. "This year, we tried to be more balanced. We can score on the blocks but we're going to be much more dangerous from the perimeter."
Hartford led 15-9 early before blowing the game open with a 13-0 run midway through the first half. Dartmouth, led by Brittney Smith's 11 points, trailed 40-14 at halftime, and shot 3-for-18 (16.7 percent) in the first half. The percentage improved to 28.6 (8-for-28) in the second half, when Rizzotti cleared her bench. Dartmouth also had 27 turnovers.
"We've been working on our defense a lot in practice," said Etienne, who had 10 points and four assists. "I think we were just so excited about playing, all of that just came together today."
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