Hamburg, N.Y. - The Hilbert Hawks women's basketball team found their shooting stroke this afternoon, as they managed to knock down eight of 18 threes (44.4%) in their overtime loss to the Mounties of Mount Aloysius. Entering the contest, the Hawks were shooting 17.7% from three-point range. Six Hawks found their way to double digit scoring.

In her second start of the season, Jennifer Colvin got things going for the Hawks by knocking down two free throws and then Kelsi Ebert began the long-range scoring with a three-pointer off the dribble, giving the Hawks their first lead, 5-4. Two plays later, Colvin scored from downtown thanks to a Haley Oakes steal.

With the game tied at nine, Oakes dropped her first of four threes off an Emily Speidel dish. Speidel and Oakes found each other well on the floor all afternoon.

Wyann Jackson's jumper at 12:33 put the Hawks ahead by one and they never trailed in the first half again. Hilbert led by as many as nine in the opening half but strong inside play by Mount Aloysius kept the game within single digits. Oakes nailed a three with four ticks left in the half to give the Hawks the 39-32 advantage at the break.

The Hawks gave up 20 paint points in the first half but were able to hold the Mounties to only one three-point make. The Mounties also grabbed 15 offensive boards in the first twenty minutes.

Just as she did in the first half, Colvin put the first points on the board for the Hawks with an elbow jumper, extending the lead back to nine. The Mounties responded with back-to-back threes by Morgan Brosnihan and Olivia Rupp, despite only shooting 8.3% from long range in the first half. Ebert grabbed an offensive rebound for a bucket, but the Mounties' Abby Kulick knocked down a third Mount Aloysius three in as many possessions.

The hot shooting continued for the Mounties and their fourth straight long-range jumper by Rupp gave them their first lead since 12:48 in the first half at 46-45. Two possessions later the Hawks gave up another three to Brosnihan to make it a 51-47 ballgame.

Oakes stopped the bleeding by continuing her strong shooting dropping a three of her own from NBA range. Speidel came off the bench and notched another three to give the Hawks a 54-53 lead. An offensive rebound and put-back by the Mounties put the Hawks behind 57-56.

An old-fashioned three-point play by Amber Hay tied that game at 59 with 9:42 remaining in the game. Alexis Resitori hit another three pointer for the Mounties and swung the advantage in their favor, 62-59.

Down the stretch, Jackson pulled down two big boards for the Hawks, including one that allowed her to connect with Speidel for a corner jumper, giving the Hawks the 71-70 lead at the 3:26 mark. The Mounties, however, regained the lead on their next possession.

After trading free throws, the Hawks found themselves trailing by two with 1:15 left. The Hawks picked up their defense and a Shannon Rogers steal led to Hay getting to the charity stripe where she knocked down both to tie the game with 48 seconds left. The Hawks kept the pressure on and in the scramble sent the Mounties to the line where Brosnihan connected on both free throws. Again, trailing by two, a hard cut to the rim by Hay earned her a lay-up with 19.8 remaining to tie the score at 76. The Mounties could not score on their final possession and the game went into overtime.

Despite Hilbert only allowing 12 points in the paint in the second half, the Mounties dug themselves out of their first half deficit by connecting on six of eleven bombs.

In the extra five minutes, the Mounties got themselves on the board first after Abbie Zinobile made two free throws. Oakes traded the favor and with 3:47 left the game was tied at 78.

Two second later, Rogers picked up her fifth and disqualifying foul, which led to two more free throws for Zinobile. Despite a couple of missed jumpers, the Hawks owned the offensive boards and Ebert eventually found her way to the rim to tie the game at 80.

Zinobile continued to be perfect from the line in overtime and with just over two minutes left put the Mounties on top 82-80. A strong steal by Ebert led to her connecting on two shots from the stripe to knot the game at 82.

Another two free throws by Zinobile gave the Mounties the two-point lead back and from there they never looked back, winning the game 89-84.

All 13 points in the overtime for the Mounties came from the free throw line, as they shot 13-14. The Hawks were a perfect 4-4 from the stripe in the overtime but it was not enough to garner the win.

Ebert and Hay both shot 5-10 and found their way to 16 points each. Ebert led all Hawks with 8 caroms. Oakes was four for five from beyond the arc and shot her way to 15 points and finished with four assists. Speidel contributed 12 points and six boards, while Colvin and Jackson pitched in eleven and ten, respectively.

Mount Aloysius' Zinobile led all scorers with 18 points and was one rebound shy of a double-double. Resitori and Brosnihan each finished with six assists in the win.

In a game that saw twelve lead changes, the Hawks recorded their best shooting of the season, shooting their way to 38.8% from the floor, 44.4% percent from long-range, and 77.4% from the free throw line. The Hawks were outrebounded 50-48 and after giving up 15 offensive boards in the first half, they only gave up five in the next 25 minutes.

The Hawks (0-15, 0-11) host AMCC opponent D'Youville this Wednesday, January 28th at 6pm.