Women’s Basketball grounds Ravens, wins 79-51

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Photo courtesy of Charger Bulletin/Tyler Rodriguez.

The New Haven bench celebrates a three, West Haven, Dec. 4, 2022.

The New Haven women’s basketball team got back in the win column on Saturday afternoon with a dominant 79-51 win over the Franklin Pierce Ravens. After two consecutive losses, they responded accordingly, as the offense got back on track to bring them to 4-2 on the season.

Franklin Pierce got the scoring started with four straight points, but guard Camryn DeBose quickly put that to a stop with her first five points of the game, finishing with a team-high 22 points. Forward Aurora Deshaies added her first scores of the game to give New Haven a five point lead halfway through the first quarter, and guard Marigona Bacaliu got herself on the scoresheet, forcing the Ravens to take a timeout.

After the timeout, forward Briana Van Cleaf added to New Haven’s lead with her first points of the game with a jumper. Guard Kameryn King followed right behind with a three pointer to give New Haven a commanding 16-4 lead with two minutes left in the first quarter. After another jumper by King, forward Leighanna Lister added a layup to give the Chargers a 20-8 lead after the first quarter.

Franklin Pierce cut the lead down to as little as six after threes by Edisha Galan and Leana Heitmann. After a New Haven timeout, both teams exchanged scores, but New Haven built on their lead with another layup from Deshaies. Van Cleaf and DeBose built the lead up to double digits, and the lead would stay at 11 going into the second half. Just before halftime, DeBose was recognized for scoring her 1,000th career point, becoming the 21st player in program history to reach the mark.

Both offenses got off to a hot start in the second half, and Van Cleaf extended the lead up to 18 halfway through the third quarter. The end of the quarter was a defensive battle with both teams turning the ball over, and a steal and layup by DeBose ended the scoring, giving New Haven a 56-37 lead going into the fourth quarter.

New Haven dominated the early stages of the fourth quarter, scoring seven of the first nine points to stretch their lead to 26. Franklin Pierce could not cut into the lead, not having an answer for the Chargers’ high-powered offense. A dominant game for New Haven ended with a 28-point lead, showing their depth with eight players scoring for the Chargers.

New Haven will now head on the road for their next matchup against Bridgeport on Wednesday, Dec. 7 in a non-conference matchup. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. as the Chargers look to stay in the win column. More information can be found at NewHavenChargers.com.