WORCESTER, Mass. – The University of New Haven women’s basketball team took its first NE-10 loss of the season on Wednesday, falling at No. 24 Assumption, 84-66. Aquillin Hayes (Harlem, N.Y./Wings Academy) posted her second consecutive double-double for the Chargers.
The loss evens the Chargers’ overall record at 3-3 with a 2-1 Northeast-10 mark. The nationally-ranked Greyhounds remain perfect at 6-0 on the season and 4-0 in conference action.
Hayes, who has recorded a double-double in both games in which she has played this season, netted 14 points with a game-high 10 rebounds. Anh-Dao Tran (Webster, Mass./Holy Name) led the Chargers with 15 points and reigning Northeast-10 Rookie of the Week Briana Bradford (Waterbury, Conn./Holy Cross) had 12. Ashley LeBlanc (Methuen, Mass./Methuen) also reached double figures with 10 of New Haven’s 23 bench points.
Rounding out the offensive effort were Nikita Reddy (Germantown, Md./Germantown) with five points, Lauren Hebert (North Reading, Mass./North Reading) with four and two points apiece from Rykema Stone (Bronx, N.Y./Wings Academy), Elizabeth Cruso (Westerly, R.I./Westerly) and Ayana Duncanson (Elmont, N.Y./Francis Lewis). Cruso and Duncanson were both making their season debuts. Bria Moore (West Haven, Conn./Hill Regional Career) dished out a team-high four assists.
New Haven was bested on the boards, 48-40, and lost the turnover battle by a 17-15 margin. The Chargers made more field goals than the Greyhounds, shooting 24-of-69 (34.8 percent) to Assumption’s 23-of-63 (36.5 percent) clip. But the home team held a clear advantage at the free throw line, going 32-for-39 (82.1 percent) compared to New Haven’s 14-of-18 (77.8 percent) day at the stripe.
Assumption got a game-high 26 points off the bench from Gabrielle Gibson, while Tafanie Roye neared a double-double with 13 points and a team-best nine rebounds.
The Greyhounds built an early six-point lead at 11-5 and the margin held to a 15-9 score at the 13:15 mark in the first half. But a pair of free throws and a layup from Hayes followed by a Stone bucket knotted the score, and Hebert sank one-of-two at the stripe to give New Haven what proved to be its only lead of the evening at 16-15. Following an 18-18 deadlock, Assumption went on the lone extended run of the period. The home team netted the next 15 points as the Chargers were scoreless for a span of 5:20 en route to falling behind, 33-18. A Tran jumper ended the drought and New Haven chiseled the deficit back below double figures with the final six tallies of the period, heading into the intermission trailing, 33-24.
The Chargers started the second with 10 of the first 15 points, capped by a Reddy three-pointer that cut the Assumption lead to 38-34 with 17:40 to go. But the Greyhounds scored the next five points, and New Haven was never closer than three possessions for the remainder of the game. When the buzzer sounded, the margin was its largest at 18 points in an 84-66 decision.
