Health & Fitness
Women's Basketball Releases 2013-14 Schedule
West Hartford, Conn. – Coming off of its seventh 20 win season in the last nine years, the University of Hartford women's basketball team will play a 29 game slate in 2013-14 as announced by head coach Jennifer Rizzotti on Thursday afternoon. Highlighting the Hawks' schedule will be four dates against NCAA Tournament qualifiers from 2012 including opening the 2013-14 season against the reigning national champion UConn Huskies.
"It's always an exciting day when the schedule is officially released," said Rizzotti. "It makes the upcoming season feel more real and provides us the roadmap for this year's journey."
"We have many challenges ahead in the first few months with a high number of non-conference games on the road. I believe it will give us the opportunity to test ourselves early in the season and build the character we'll need later in the year to win conference games on the road."
For the first time under Rizzotti, the Hawks will open the season with their first three games on the road beginning with the Nov. 9 season opener against the Huskies. Last season, Hartford welcomed UConn and a sellout crowd of 3,508 fans to the Chase Family Arena at the Reich Family Pavilion.
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After opening the season against the national powerhouse Huskies, Hartford will travel to Maryland for the first of two trips to the Old Line State, the first meeting the Loyola Greyhounds on Thursday, Nov. 20. The final game in the season opening road trek will be back in New England as the Hawks travel to Providence College for a Wednesday (Nov. 20) match-up against the Friars.
The Hawks return to West Hartford to host back-to-back home contests which begin a 12-game home schedule. First on the docket will be a Saturday afternoon game against the Massachusetts Minutewomen on November 23. Last season the Hawks defeated UMass in Amherst 71-65. Hartford then welcomes Central Connecticut to the Chase Family Arena on Tuesday, Nov. 26. The second of four Nutmeg State teams the Hawks will face in 2013-14.
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Following the two home contests the Hawks travel to the University of Miami for a pair of games in the Hurricane's Thanksgiving Tournament. Hartford is scheduled to open the tournament on Friday, Nov. 29 against the Missouri Tigers. Based on the result of the opening game, the Hawks would face either the host Hurricanes or St. Francis College (N.Y.) on Saturday, Nov. 30.
The two games in the Miami Thanksgiving Tournament begin a five-game road swing that includes visits to Quinnipiac (Wed., Dec. 4) and Boston College (Sun., Dec. 8). The final game will be the Hawks America East Conference opener on Wednesday, Dec. 11 when they travel to Orono, Maine to take on the Black Bears. The Hawks defeated all three teams in their previous meetings.
Hartford then returns to the Chase Family Arena for its final home contest in 2013 when they welcome the Vanderbilt Commodores to campus on Sunday, Dec. 15 for a rematch of the series opener last season in Nashville. Last year Vanderbilt advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Two road games will close out the 2013 calendar year as the Hawks will visit Sacred Heart (Sat., Dec. 21) and Penn State (Sun., Dec. 29). Last season the Pioneers and Nittany Lions combined for 48 total victories with Sacred Heart earning a berth in the WNIT and Penn State advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The meeting against the Nittany Lions will be just the second all-time with the initial game taking place on international soil at the Caribbean Challenge in Playa de Carmen, Mexico in 2010.
The Hawks will close out their non-conference schedule in the New Year when they welcome the Dartmouth Big Green to campus for a Saturday afternoon matinee on Jan. 4. The contest against the Big Green will be the 18th all-time between the two squads with Hartford leading the all-time series 11-6 (.647).
Hartford resumes its 16-game league schedule on Wednesday, Jan. 8 with a road contest at Stony Brook. The conference home opener will come four days later when the Hawks host the Albany Great Danes for a doubleheader with the men's team on Jan. 12. The men's team will host the Stony Brook Seawolves that afternoon.
Hartford closes out the regular season with three of the final four games at home. The road finale will be a mid-week contest against the Binghamton Bearcats on Wednesday, Feb. 26 with the regular season finale at the Chase Family Arena on Saturday, Mar. 1 against the Vermont Catamounts. Last season, the Hawks defeated both teams in the conference tournament including a 31 point victory over the Catamounts in the semifinals. The 2014 America East Championship is scheduled for March 7-10 at SEFCU Arena on the campus of the University at Albany.
All Hartford women's basketball games can be heard live on the flagship station for Hartford women's basketball WWUH 91.3 FM or online at WWUH.org. Amy Lawrence returns for her fourth season as the Voice of the Hawks, with Brian Irizarry also returning for his fourth year offering color commentary. The 2013-14 television schedule will be released at a later date. All home games can also be seen live online through HartfordHawks.com/allaccess with all contests available free of charge as part of the America East Digital Network.
Season tickets for the 2013-14 season are currently available by calling the Malcolm & Brenda Berman Athletics Ticket Office at (860) 768.HAWK (4-2-9-5) or emailingtickets@hartford.edu. Click Here to purchase season tickets online.
