Hartford Hawks women's basketball
The Hartford Hawks women's basketball team is the basketball team that represents the University of Hartford in West Hartford, Connecticut, United States. The school's team currently competes in the America East Conference. The school began the women's basketball team in 1975 as a Division III school. The program moved to Division II and was a member of the Northeast-10 Conference (originally Northeast-7) between 1980 and 1984. The school transitioned to Division I in 1984, playing as an independent school in 1984–85, and then becoming part of the Seaboard Conference in 1985–86. The  Seaboard Conference became the North Atlantic Conference in 1989, and changed their name to America East in 1996. On May 6, 2021, the University of Hartford Board of Regents voted to drop its athletic department to Division III. The drop is set to take place no later than September 1, 2025. History. 2000s. Hartford's most successful run came in the early and mid 2000s under head coach Jen Rizzotti who was hired in 1999. Under Rizzotti, Hartford made 6 NCAA tournament appearances. In 2006 Hartford knocked of the sixth seeded Temple Owls in the first round advancing to the  round of the 32 for the first time in program history. Hartford has continued its success under current head coach Kim McNeill, making the 2018 America East championship game.