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LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell (3-23, 0-13) women's basketball team fell, 84-64, to the Hartford Hawks (15-10, 6-6) in America East action at the Tsongas Center on Sunday afternoon.
 
Kayla Gibbs (Teaneck, N.J.) led the River Hawks with her 10th double-double of the season with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Markayla Sherman (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Asia Mitchell-Owens (Roxbury, Mass.) each added 12 points in the effort.
 
Hartford's Janelle Harrison scored her team's first six points as the Hawks opened a 9-4 lead at the first media timeout. With the River Hawks trailing 11-4 with just over five minutes left in the frame, Nicole Hayner (Bedford, N.H.) scored five straight points in a 60 second span, and Gibbs knotted up the game with less than two minutes on the clock.
 
Mitchell-Owens gave UMass Lowell its first lead of the game, 16-15, with a three-pointer just under two minutes into the second. Sherman connected on two threes of her own to cap a 11-2 run, opening a 22-17 buffer for the River Hawks.
 
The Hawks upped their pressure and quickly responded with a 10-2 run to regain the lead with 5:36 remaining in the half. Mitchell-Owens brought UMass Lowell even at 27-27 on her second triple of the afternoon with 3:31 on the clock. After two Hartford free throws, Gibbs converted a traditional three-point play to put the River Hawks up 30-29 with 2:48 remaining.
 
Behind 10 points and nine rebounds from Gibbs in the first half, UMass Lowell entered intermission with a 33-32 advantage.
 
The Hawks opened the second half on a 7-0 run in the first 1:46 to take a 39-33 lead, and took a 47-37 advantage with 5:05 left in the quarter. Hartford controlled the period, outscoring UMass Lowell, 30-12, to take a 62-45 buffer into the fourth.
 
Gibbs picked up the double-double with four points and two boards in the third. The River Hawks got within 62-50 following a 5-0 run in the first two minutes of the final period.
 
The visitors were led by Janelle Harrison's 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting and Lindsey Abed's 21-point performance. Darby Lee added 12 while Alyssa Reaves finished the contest with 10 points.
 
The River Hawks return to action on February 15 with a road game at Vermont at 7 p.m.