On the Cover...
Despite her sophomore status, Dowding is a veteran among the Hawks. Her 27 appearances in 2021-22 rank third among Hartford’s returners.
SOPHOMORE
2022 SCHEDULE
H AWKSRISE
TIPOFF+/RESULT
DAY DATE OPPONENT
SAT. 11/12 LIU 2 PM
MON. 11/14 AT QUINNIPIAC 6 PM SAT. 11/19 AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY 2 PM MON. 11/21 AT STONEHILL 6 PM FRI. 11/25 AT PROVIDENCE* 1 PM SAT. 11/26 BRYANT* 1 PM SUN. 11/27 WEBER STATE* 12 PM SAT. 12/3 AT BROWN 3 PM MON. 12/5 CORNELL 7 PM WED. 12/7 AT RHODE ISLAND 11 AM SUN. 12/18 CENTRAL CONNECTICUT 2 PM TUE. 12/20 AT BINGHAMTON 6 PM THURS. 12/22 UMBC 2 PM FRI. 12/30 AT ST. FRANCIS (PA.) 7 PM MON. 1/2 AT LA SALLE 9 PM THURS. 1/5 AT NVU-JOHNSON 2 PM TUE. 1/10 AT PENN 7 PM THURS. 1/12 AT PRINCETON 6 PM SAT. 1/21 AT MERRIMACK 3 PM TUES. 1/24 AT BRYANT 7 PM
SAT. 1/28 CHICAGO STATE 1 PM SUN. 1/29 CHICAGO STATE 1 PM
WED. 2/8 AT CENTRAL CONNECTICUT 7 PM SUN. 2/12 VILLA MARIA 1 PM THURS. 2/16 MERRIMACK 5 PM SAT. 2/25 AT CHICAGO STATE 1 PM SUN. 2/26 AT CHICAGO STATE 1 PM RED - HOME GAMES (CHASE ARENA) + ALL TIMES EASTERN AND ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE * FRIAR THANKSGIVING CLASSIC TOURNAMENT
4 HARTFORD HAWKS // # HAWKSRISE -- STREAK L1 -- POINTS PER GAME 57.0 -- POINTS ALLOWED 71.0 -- REBOUNDS/GAME 37.0 -- REBOUND MARGIN -7.0 -- FG% .314 -- FG% DEFENSE .423 -- 3-PT FG% .250 -- 3-PT FG% DEF .259 -- FT% .718 -- ASSISTS/GAME 10.5 -- TO/GAME 19.0 --STEALS/GAME BLOCKS/GAME 9.5 0.5 TALE OF THE TAPE HARTFORD HAWKS (0-0) THE MATCHUP vs. SERIES HISTORY Saturday
LIU.
MEETING
All-Time Series
At Hartford ....................................................
At LIU ................................................................................................ N/A At Neutral Venue
Current Streak ..........................................
games Last Meeting
SERIES BREAKDOWN LIU SHARKS (1-1, 0-0 NEC)
marks the third all-time meeting between Hartford and
The Hawks hold a commanding 2-0 advantage in the two all-time meetings. LAST
The two teams last met on Nov. 13, 2011 where the Hawks would walk away victorious by a score of 54-45 over the Sharks. Ruthanne Doherty led the Hawks offensive posting a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds.
Hartford leads, 2-0
Hartford leads, 1-0
Hartford leads, 1-0
Hartford, two
Hartford, 54-45 (11.13.11)
TODAY’S MATCH
The Hawks are set to open up their 2022-23 campaign taking on the Sharks of LIU. Tipoff from Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion is slated for 2 p.m.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
LIU was picked to finish seventh in the Northeast Conference Preseason Coaches’ Poll. Sophomore guard Emaia O’Brien, the unanimous NEC Rookie of the Year in 2021-22, was named to this year’s Preseason AllNEC Team. O’Brien averaged 9.1 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game last season. She scored in double figures in six of the Sharks’ last seven games. O’Brien leads LIU in scoring this year (14.0 ppg), followed by Ashley Austin (9.0 ppg) and Iris Mbulito (6.5 ppg). Mbulito has dominated the glass through the Sharks’ first two games, averaging 8.5 rebounds. LIU defeated Ohio University, 74-67, in its season opener this past Monday. The Sharks dropped a 75-40 decision at Illionois on Wednesday.
KEY RETURNERS
Irene Primo returns to the Hawks as the lone senior on the 2022-23 roster. The guard brings a sense of leadership to the group after joining the program in 2019. Primo posted career-highs last season in games played (29), blocks (3) and steals (8). The native of Tres Cantos, Spain scored her 100th career point last season on Feb. 12 against NJIT. Sophomore classmates Najla Cecunjanin, Brianna Williams and Nayeli Dowding return to the Hawks after totalling a combined 128 points (4.3 ppg). The trio
returns to the Hawks looking to improve on a solid freshman campaign. Williams paced the freshman class last season with 2.1 ppgs, while Cecunjanin averaged 2.0 and Dowding put up 1.3 per contest.
THE THOMASON ERA
Head coach Polly Thomason enters her first season at the helm of the Hartford Women’s Basketball team. Thomason brings over 18 years of head coaching experience, most recently leading UT Dallas for the past 17 seasons. She begins her tenure at Hartford with an overall coaching record of 327-126. Thomason led the Comets of UT Dallas to six NCAA Tournament appearances, earning a Sweet 16 bid during the 2014-15 season. During her time with the Comets, Thomason coached the team to four ASC Championships and was named WBCA South Region Coach of the Year after the 201617 season.
NEXT ON TAP
Hartford will travel to Hamden, Conn., to match-up against in-state rival Quinnipiac. The Hawks trail the Bobcats 3-8 in the all-time series between the two. Falling in their last meeting by a score of 62-73 on Nov. 28, 2021. Tipoff from the M&T Bank Arena is set for 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 14.
HARTFORD HAWKS // # HAWKSRISE 5
# Name Yr. Pos. Ht. Hometown/Last School 0 Elena Houghton Fr. F 6-1 Washington, D.C. / Friendship Collegiate Academy 1 Zaiha Minnis Fr. G 5-10 Clinton, Md. / Maret School 2 Jasmine Barnes Gr. G 5-7 Plano, Texas / Harding University 3 Paige Loughman Fr. G 5-11 Bernardston, Mass. / Hermon School 4 Brianna Williams So. F 6-1 Brampton, Ontario / Southwest Academy 5 Abigail Cherry Fr. G 5-8 Randolph, Mass. / Brockton 11 Ta’Nya Outten So. G 5-8 North Chesterfield, Va. / Central State University 12 Lanae Johnson-Kleinpeter Jr. G 5-8 Fort Worth, Texas. / Crowder College 13 Nayeli Dowding So. G 5-5 Baldwin, N.Y. / Baldwin 15 Irene Primo Sr. G 5-4 Tres Cantos, Spain / Club Baloncesto Tres Cantose 23 Najla Cecunjanin So. F 6-1 Cromwell, Conn. / Wilbraham Monson Academy 24 Kymilondra Nance Jr. G 5-7 Dunkirk, N.Y. / Jamestown CC 30 Tatum Forbes Fr. G 5-8 Pawtucket, R.I. / St. Marks 31 Siena Hallberg Fr. G 5-7 Schenectady, N.Y. / Schalmont (0-0 OVERALL) HEAD COACH POLLY THOMASON - First Season - Austin College ‘99 ASSISTANT COACHES MEREDITH MESARIS - First Season - University of Scranton ’15 KATIE KORIOTH - First Season - UT Dallas ‘13
# Name Yr. Pos. Ht. Hometown/Last School 0 De’Asia Thomas Jr. F 6-0 Tulsa, Okla. / Sapulpa / Kilgore 1 Emaia O’Brien So. G 5-1 Detroit, Mich. / Chandler Park Academy 2 Zoée Hache Jr. G 5-6 Normady, France / Victor Hugo 3 Cristina Bermejo Sr. G/F 6-0 Sant Just Desvern, Barcelona, Spain / South Florida 4 Tashun Bryson So. G 5-10 Memphis, Tenn. / Mitchell School / Fla. Southwestern State 5 Shyan Mwai Gr. G 5-6 Lowell, Mass. / Lowell / Iona 10 Claire Henson Fr. G 5-10 Germantown, Ohio / Valley View 11 Mariah Elohim Fr. G 5-10 Westlake Vilalge, Calif. / Westlake 12 Ashley Austin Jr. G 5-6 Compton, Calif. / Texas Southern 13 Iris Mbulito Gr. G 6-0 Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Spain / Arizona State 14 Dia Dénes Fr. F 6-1 Budapest, Hungary / Szabó Lorinc 15 Kayla Tilus Fr. G 5-11 Bridgeport, Conn. / Notre Dame Catholic 20 Jeanine Brandsma Fr. F 6-2 Eguzon Chantome, France / Lycée Ernest Couteaux 21 Tiana Amos Fr. G 5-7 Dallas, Texas / South Oak Cliff 24 Antoaneta Alexe Jr. G/F 5-11 Bucharest, Romania / IMG Academy / Winthrop 33 Sydni Smith Fr. C 6-2 Tulsa, Okla. / Union LIU SHARKS (1-1 OVERALL, 0-0 NEC) HEAD COACH RENE HAYNES - Fourth Season ASSISTANT COACHES CHRIS DUNN AURIELLE RICHARDS-ANDERSON STEVEN GILBERT
8 HARTFORD HAWKS // # HAWKSRISE 14 15 16 HARTFORD HAWKS 0 elena HOUGHTON FR | 6-1 | FORWARD 1 zaiha MINNIS FR | 5-10 | GUARD 2 jasmine BARNES FR | 5-7 | GUARD 3 paige LOUGHMAN FR | 5-11 | GUARD 4 brianna WILLIAMS SO | 6-1 | FORWARD 5 abigail CHERRY FR | 5-8 | GUARD 11 ta’nya OUTEEN SO | 5-8 | GUARD 12 lanae JOHNSON-KLEINPETER JR | 5-8 | GUARD 13 nayeli DOWDING SO | 5-5 | GUARD 15 irene PRIMO SR | 5-4 | GUARD 23 najla CECUNJANIN SO | 6-1 | FORWARD 24 kymilondra NANCE JR | 5-8 | GUARD
HARTFORD HAWKS // # HAWKSRISE 9 HARTFORD HAWKS POLLY THOMASON HEAD COACH First Season KATIE KORIOTH ASSISTANT COACH First Season 30 tatum FORBES FR | 5-8 | GUARD 31 siena HALLBERG FR | 5-7 | GUARD MEREDITH MESARIS ASSISTANT COACH First Season
All
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Score by Periods Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT TOT Hartford 391 379 410 427 15 1622 Opponents 533 497 573 532 12 2147 2021-22 TEAM STATISTICS OVERALL: 4-26 HOME: 1-13 • AWAY: 3-13 • NEUTRAL: 0-0
HARTFORD HAWKS 2021-22 Hartford Women's Basketball Overall Team Statistics
games Page 1/1 as of Nov 12, 2022 Team Statistics HART OPP Scoring 1622 2147 Points per game 54.1 71.6 Scoring margin -17.5 Field goals-att 606-1667 800-1869 Field goal pct .364 .428 3 point fg-att 182-609 202-630 3-point FG pct .299 .321 3-pt FG made per game 6.1 6.7 Free throws-att 228-361 345-482 Free throw pct .632 .716 F-Throws made per game 7.6 11.5 Rebounds 1031 1185 Rebounds per game 34.4 39.5 Rebounding margin -5.1 Assists 332 463 Assists per game 11.1 15.4 Turnovers 618 457 Turnovers per game 20.6 15.2 Turnover margin -5.4 Assist/turnover ratio 0.5 1.0 Steals 210 310 Steals per game 7.0 10.3 Blocks 76 90 Blocks per game 2.5 3.0 Winning streak
Home win streak
Attendance 2398 8222 Home games-Avg/Game 14-171 16-514 Neutral site-Avg/Game 0-0
HARTFORD HAWKS // # HAWKSRISE 11 2021-22 Hartford Women's Basketball Extended Season Box Score All games Page 1/1 as of Nov 12, 2022 Game Records Record Overall Home Away Neutral ALL GAMES 4-26 1-13 3-13 0-0 CONFERENCE 4-14 1-8 3-6 0-0 NON-CONFERENCE 0-12 0-5 0-7 0-0 Team Box Score Extended No. Player Total 3-Point F-Throw Rebounds GP-GS MIN AVG FG-FGA FG% 3FG-3FGA 3FG% FT-FTA FT% OFF DEF TOT AVG PF DQ A A/G TO TO/G A/TO BLK BLK/G STL STL/G PTS AVG 11 MAURINA, Paula 25-22 639:53 25.6 124-259 .479 11-48 .229 67-97 .691 28 69 97 3.9 67 2 21 0.84 84 3.36 0.25 21 0.84 12 0.48 326 13.0 31 STREETER, Abby 30-28 912:13 30.4 94-246 .382 78-187 .417 21-29 .724 10 65 75 2.5 52 0 25 0.83 58 1.93 0.43 1 0.03 10 0.33 287 9.6 5 FARKIC, Nina 10-9 261:04 26.1 34-94 .362 3-18 .167 10-15 .667 16 30 46 4.6 10 0 26 2.60 20 2.00 1.30 1 0.10 12 1.20 81 8.1 3 LUCAS, Jada 16-6 306:50 19.2 49-167 .293 17-79 .215 7-14 .500 8 21 29 1.8 22 0 18 1.13 38 2.38 0.47 0 0.00 20 1.25 122 7.6 13 VILLALOBOS, Carmen 30-29 909:40 30.3 74-219 .338 28-82 .341 37-49 .755 63 139 202 6.7 75 1 54 1.80 60 2.00 0.90 15 0.50 55 1.83 213 7.1 32 INGRAM, Jabria 26-20 633:53 24.4 57-163 .350 5-28 .179 31-53 .585 14 51 65 2.5 51 1 73 2.81 94 3.62 0.78 4 0.15 34 1.31 150 5.8 2 FARCY, Lya 19-14 498:12 26.2 48-121 .397 5-21 .238 8-14 .571 16 40 56 2.9 34 2 50 2.63 54 2.84 0.93 5 0.26 19 1.00 109 5.7 40 SMITH, Sierra 25-11 342:00 13.7 30-72 .417 0-2 .000 9-22 .409 42 62 104 4.2 49 4 11 0.44 42 1.68 0.26 7 0.28 15 0.60 69 2.8 24 LEE, Marisa 25-2 218:17 8.7 20-47 .426 1-6 .167 15-23 .652 12 17 29 1.2 31 0 7 0.28 32 1.28 0.22 7 0.28 7 0.28 56 2.2 0 BENHAROUGA, Sophie 19-0 142:23 7.5 16-54 .296 4-17 .235 6-11 .545 9 24 33 1.7 21 0 5 0.26 30 1.58 0.17 4 0.21 5 0.26 42 2.2 4 WILLIAMS, Brianna 18-3 228:22 12.7 14-33 .424 1-2 .500 9-16 .563 12 37 49 2.7 13 0 3 0.17 12 0.67 0.25 4 0.22 2 0.11 38 2.1 23 CECUNJANIN, Najla 27-3 389:12 14.4 20-74 .270 10-39 .256 4-8 .500 9 33 42 1.6 18 0 18 0.67 25 0.93 0.72 3 0.11 8 0.30 54 2.0 15 PRIMO, Irene 29-3 311:31 10.7 15-57 .263 9-44 .205 0-2 .000 5 13 18 0.6 23 0 10 0.34 24 0.83 0.42 3 0.10 8 0.28 39 1.3 12 DOWDING, Nayeli 27-0 229:08 8.5 11-52 .212 10-33 .303 4-8 .500 8 16 24 0.9 16 0 10 0.37 19 0.70 0.53 1 0.04 3 0.11 36 1.3 1 ETUKA, Brittney-Shania 14-0 27:23 2.0 0-9 .000 0-3 .000 0-0 .000 1 8 9 0.6 7 0 1 0.07 1 0.07 1.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.0 Total 30 6050 606-1667 .364 182-609 .299 228-361 .632 321 710 1031 34.4 489 10 332 11.07 618 20.60 0.54 76 2.53 210 7.00 1622 54.1 Opponents 30 6050 800-1869 .428 202-630 .321 345-482 .716 404 781 1185 39.5 426 2 463 15.43 457 15.23 1.01 90 3.00 310 10.33 2147 71.6 Score by Periods Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT TOT Hartford 391 379 410 427 15 1622 Opponents 533 497 573 532 12 2147 2021-22 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS NajlaCecunjanin