UNH's Amanda Torres eclipsed teh career 1,000 point mark in the Wildcats' buzzer-beating win over Hartford on Wednesday night at Lundholm Gym. (Photo courtesy of UNH Athletics)

DURHAM – The last of junior Helena Delaruelle’s (Enghien-les-Bains, France) career-high five 3-point field goals came from 42 feet out as time expired to lift the UNH women’s basketball team to Wednesday night’s 69-66 America East victory against Hartford at Lundholm Gym.

Delaruelle paced three Wildcats (4-12, 1-4 America East) in double figures with a career-best 18 points, which matched senior Ivy Gogolin (Hopkinton, Mass.) for game-high honors. Graduate student Amanda Torres of Hudson/Nashua finished with 16 points and became the 22nd player in school history to reach the 1,000-point career scoring plateau.

With 1,007 career points, Torres moved past Heidi Plencner (1998-2002, 1,000 points) into 21st place on UNH’s all-time scoring list. She is one point behind Marcie Lane (1989-94, 1,008 points) for No. 20.

UNH head coach Kelsey Hogan is ranked 12th in UNH history with 1,181 points.

After falling behind 66-56 with 2:01 remaining, Hartford (1-14, 1-3 AE) came storming back courtesy of a 10-0 run that culminated in a game-tying layup from Marina Paula with five seconds remaining.

Delaruelle then pulled up from just inside mid court and swished her final 3 to deliver the Wildcats their first conference victory of the season. She went 6-for-12 from the floor, 5 of 8 beyond the arc, added seven rebounds, six assists and a career-high-matching four steals.

Torres, who went 6-for-10 and made each of her two 3s, joined the 1,000-point club on a straightaway jumper with 46 seconds remaining in the half to knot the score at 29. Gogolin, who shot 6-for-7 from the floor and 6 of 9 at the free throw line, snapped the deadlock with a jumper of her own at the 13-second mark to give the Wildcats a 31-29 lead at the intermission.

Paula paced the Hawks with 17 points on 5-of-9 FG shooting and 7-for-7 free throw shooting. Jabria Ingram tallied 15 points and seven assists, Carmen Villalobos finished with a double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds) and Abby Streeter went 4 of 8 from long range for 12 points.

The Wildcats rebounded from a slow start (trailed 9-4 with 7:23 left in the first quarter) to lead 16-13 after one. UNH parlayed a 7-1 run over the final 2:54 of the period, including an and-1 layup from Gogolin, off a Delaruelle entry pass, with 1:22 left that provided the ‘Cats with their first lead (13-12).

A back-and-forth third quarter featured four lead changes before the Hawks took a 46-45 lead to the fourth. Torres’ only points of the quarter were two free throws with 4.4 seconds left to trim the deficit to one.

The Wildcats return to action Saturday, Jan. 22, with an America East battle at UMass Lowell. Game time from the Costello Athletic Center is 1 p.m. on ESPN3. UNH will play host to Maine in the Border Battle on Wednesday, Jan. 26, starting at 4 p.m. (ESPN3).