BRISTOL, R.I.- Led by the hot shooting of junior guard Jackie Criss (Westwood, Mass.), the Hawks built a sizeable first half lead and never looked back, defeating the Leopards of Wentworth Institute of Technology 64-49 in conference play.

After an early 3-3 tie, the Hawks would never relinquish the advantage, leaving the Leopards trailing by as many as 20 after consecutive three-pointers by junior Jennifer Youngquist (Sandwich, Mass.) at the end of the first half.  The Leopards would later cut the deficit to nine on the scoring of forwards Jessie Coffey and Emily Cring, but the Hawks defense held them scoreless during the final 6:28.

Criss led all scorers with a season-high 20 points on 8-14 shooting, including an impressive 4-6 from three-point range.  Youngquist and Casey Anderson (Cohasset, Mass.) each added nine points.  Freshman Caitlin McNabb (Springfield, Mass.) was the defensive leader with nine boards, while Anderson had eight.  Senior Cring led the Leopards' offense, scoring 19 poings while grabbing eight rebounds. 

For the game, the Hawks outshot the Leopards, hitting 37.7 percent of their shots compared to Wentworth's 31.7.  The Hawks also fared better on the boards, grabbing 52 over the Leopards' 37.

"It was a great team effort" said Hawks Head Coach Tracey Hathaway-James.  "On the offense, we shared the ball well.  I saw improvement in the way we drew them defensively to us."

With the win, the Hawks improve to 6-8 (1-2 TCCC), while the Leopards drop to 8-6 (1-2 TCCC).  Roger Williams women's hoops will be back in action on Wednesday the 23rd when they host conference opponent Gordon in a 6:00 game, the first of a Hawks doubleheader.