WILLIMANTIC, Conn. --   Tournament MVP Taylor Vonasek led a balanced scoring attack and Hartwick College limited Eastern Connecticut State University to 1-for-14 shooting from three-point range as the  Hawks captured the title of the Eastern Tip-Off Tournament with a 65-46 women's basketball victory Sunday afternoon at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.

At right: Shannon McCourt skies over tournament MVP Taylor Vonasek for two of her 12 second-half points Sunday. (Photo by Ashley Wolk)

Leading by eight points at halftime, Hartwick (2-0) scored two quick hopes to open the second half behind sophomore Vonasek's hoop in the paint and a steal and driving layup from senior Lee Arduini to move out to a 12-point, 33-21 lead. The Warriors were able to cut the deficit back to eight before Hartwick went on an 18-7 run over nine minutes  to open up a 19-point, 55-36 lead with seven minutes left.

In its first tip-off appearance and in the first meeting between the programs, Hartwick relied primarily upon six players, with senior Kait Veit coming off the bench to contribute 13 points. The six-foot Vonasek scored 12 of her  game-high total of 16 points in the first half, sinking six of her nine shots while the rest of her team missed 18 of 23 from the floor.

All-tournament guard Maria Foglia of Hartwick had 13 points and a game-high eight rebounds, while all-tournament sophomore forward Brittney Dumas contributed ten points and seven rebounds for the Hawks, who returned ten letterwinners from last year's ECAC tournament titlist.

Foglia and Veit each connected on two three-pointers in the second half, Foglia's three pushing the Hawks' lead back to 13 five minutes into the second half and Veit's long ball making it 53-46 with eight minutes left.

Eastern junior Shannon McCourt  (New Fairfield)  had nearly half of Eastern's second-half total of 25 points with 12. McCourt, starting in place of injured six-foot freshman Lindsay Langenauer (Cromwell), scored the Warriors' first six points of the second half and ten of their first 12, but her efforts did not allow Eastern to dig deep into Hartwick's lead.

Limited to ten first-half minute after picking up two quick fouls, McCourt was Eastern's only double-figure scorer. She totaled 16 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the floor and a team-high seven rebounds. Eastern's other four starters combined to shoot just 24.1 percent (7-for-29) from the field.

Due to Langenauer's absence, six-foot freshman Lexis Foster  (Groton) came off the bench for eight points and six rebounds in 16 minutes.

In two tournament games, Foglia had 35 points (12-for-15 from the foul line), Veit 34 points (12-for-19 form the floor, 8-for-14 from three), Dumas 26 points and a team-high 16 rebounds and Vonasek 23 points (10-for-16 from the floor) and ten rebounds without a turnover in 44 minutes.

With 22 points each, McCourt and junior guard Kristina Forsman (Newington) represented Eastern on the all-tournament team, along with Johnson & Wales  senior  guard Jenna Juron . Forsman was guilty of only two turnovers in 64 tournament minutes and sank five of 13 three-pointers to go along with seven rebounds and seven assists. McCourt grabbed 14 rebounds and shot  55.6 percent from the floor (10-for-18).

Juron led Johnson & Wales with 23 points to push her to within three of 1,000 in her career. She also grabbed ten rebounds.

Third-place game

Johnson & Wales 58, Mount Saint Mary College 46

 Behind a game-high 17 points and eight rebounds from Juron, the Wildcats (1-1) won their first tip-off contest after three losses withi a 58-46 triumph over Mount Saint Mary College (0-2)  to gain third place and  split of two tournament contests.

Mount Saint Mary turned the ball over four times and missed three shots on its first seven possessions of the game but still only trailed by seven at halftime. The Knights could not get closer than seven in the second half, however, and the Wildcats' run of nine straight points over three minutes stretched the lead to 16, 46-30, with nine minutes left.  Juron accounted for the final seven oof those nine points, her only three-pointer of the game capping the run.

After scoring the first eight points of the game, Johnson & Wales never trailed against the Knights despite missing 18 of 19 shots from three-point range. The Knights turned the ball over 26 times and managed to convert only ten of 19 free throws. Trailing by seven at the break, the Knights  shot only 22.9 percent from the floor in the second half.

Championship Game

Hartwick  65, Eastern Conn. 46

Consolation Game

Johnson & Wales U. 58, Mount Saint Mary College 46

 All-Tournament Team

Taylor Vonasek, So., Hartwick College (Willington, CT)

Brittney Dumas, So., Hartwick College (Easton, CT)

Maria Foglia, Sr., Hartwick College (Rensselaer, NY)

Kristina Forsman, Jr., Eastern Conn. (Newington, CT)

Shannon McCourt, Jr., Eastern Conn. (New Fairfield, CT)

Jenna Juron, Sr., Johnson & Wales U. (Burnt Hills, NY)