HARTFORD, Conn. (Nov. 9, 2018)-Ella Awobajo recorded a double-double with 18 points and pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds to lead the host Hartford Hawks to their first win of the season, following an 80-59 victory over Morgan State in the Preseason Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) on Friday night at Chase Arena.
 
Jada Lucas and Jabria Ingram each came off the bench and scored 11 points apiece, while Jade Young scored 10 points, as the Hawks advance to Round 2 to face Miami on the road on Sunday, Nov. 11 at 1 p.m.  Morgan State will move into next week's consolation round, where they will await their opponent and location.
 
Morgan State (1-2), which was playing in its first-ever Preseason WNIT game, was led by Adre'onia Coleman's game highs of 19 points, seven rebounds and two blocks. Naomi Bolasingh came off the bench and scored 13 points, while Jihaya Chavis scored 11 points and dished out four assists.
 
Hartford (1-1) forced Morgan State into 33 turnovers, which the Hawks turned into 41 points. The hosts outscored Morgan State, 34-16 in bench points and held advantages in fast break points (16-2) and second chance points (17-6).
 
Morgan State forced 22 turnovers out of Hartford, 11 of those were by way of steals. Ashia McCalla led Morgan State with four steals and Chavis added three. The Lady Bears would score 21 points off of Hartford turnovers.
 
Morgan State finished the game shooting 42.6 percent (20-of-47) from the floor. The Lady Bears would also shoot 30 percent (3-for-10) from three-point range. Hartford shot 23-of-57 (40.4 percent) from the floor and was 6-of-25 (24 percent) from three-point range. The Hawks did hold the advantage at the charity stripe, connecting on 28-of-34 free throws for 82.4 percent. Morgan State (16-of-22 for 72.7 percent) shot 12 less free throws and made 12 less than Hartford.