EASTON, Mass. – The University of New Haven women's basketball team (7-10, 3-9 NE10) put up a tough first half fight against No. 23 Stonehill (15-2, 11-1 NE10), however could not outlast the Skyhawks in a Northeast-10 conference game on Saturday afternoon, 71-54.
 
Quana Smith (Bronx, N.Y./Harry S. Truman) (4-of-6 FG) scored a team-high 14 points in the defeat, just three away from her career-high 17 points scored against Southern Connecticut State on December 2^nd, 2015. Her 14 points were also the first time this season that the senior has scored in double digits.  Smith also finished second on the team in rebounds with five and also dished out two assists on the day.
 
Junior Alexandria Kerr (Montclair, N.J./Montclair) tallied nine points, also leading the team in boards with seven and assists with three. Classmate Sianna Van Dyke (Kingston, N.Y./Kingston) had a nice game off the bench, scoring all seven of her points in the first half which led the team at the midway point. Senior Khayla Trowell (Temple Hills, Md./Elizabeth Seton Catholic) added six points on the day, while sophomore Kim Talley (Quakertown, Pa./Lansdale Catholic) and freshman Brie Pergola (Torrington, Conn./Torrington) each chipped in five.
 
New Haven played a solid first half, shooting 11-of-31 (36 percent) from the field and held Stonehill to 10-of-34 (29 percent) shooting. Despite shooting 4-of-25 from beyond the arc in the game, Stonehill's half time adjustments were the overall difference as the Skyhawks shot 47 percent following the midway break.
 
For the Skyhawks, sophomore forward Gabrielle Reuter put in a career-high 15 points to lead all scorers.
 
FIRST QUARTER NOTES:

• Stonehill got out to a quick 8-4 lead over the Chargers with the help of a made three by Grace Carter. Wormack connected on a jump shot assisted by Smith and Van Dyke scored three-straight points to get the first Charger lead of the game, 10-8, over Stonehill.
• Wormack put back Van Dyke's miss to cut the score to 14-12 with just under two minutes remaining and rejected a Tayler Wornum layup on the other end of the court for a nice defensive play.  
• New Haven got possession with under a minute remaining with a steal by Cubbage, eventually get points off the Skyhawk turnover with a Pergola made jumper on the other end. With five seconds left in the quarter, Kerr got the defensive rebound off of a Skyhawk three-pointer and dribbled all the way in and hit a layup from the left size to beat the buzzer, giving New Haven a 16-14 lead at the first break.
• The first quarter saw New Haven shooting 6-of-15 (40 percent) from the field and 4-of-5 from the free throw line.

 
SECOND QUARTER NOTES:

• After a Trowell layup to extend the lead to five points, Smith converted on her second old-fashioned three-point play of the game, driving into the basket and sinking the free throw to extend the lead to six. Trowell then put in a jump shot to get New Haven got its biggest lead of the game at eight points.
• The next five minutes was a defensive battle neither team scored from the field until Van Dyke hit a big three-pointer to reach a 27-21 lead over Stonehill.
• New Haven kept up the pressure, holding Stonehill without a field goal for almost six minutes. In the stretch, Stonehill scored points off seven-straight free throws to chip into the deficit.
• Stonehill got its first lead since the 1:56 mark in the first quarter with 40 seconds remaining when Taylor Wornum made a layup to give Stonehill the 30-29 lead at halftime.
• New Haven held Stonehill to 25 percent shooting (4-of-16 FG) in the quarter.

 
THIRD QUARTER NOTES:

• Stonehill came out red hot, scoring 30 points in the third quarter to begin to pull away from New Haven. A Grace Carter three-pointer sparked a 14-4 run for the Skyhawks, capped by a jump shot by Pergola.
• Smith hit a shot from deep to cut the Skyhawk lead back to 10, but Stonehill kept pushing, leading by as many as 18 by the end of the third.

 
FOURTH QUARTER NOTES:

• The Skyhawks got to their largest lead of the fourth quarter right away with a jump shot before Cubbage made a nice play on the defensive end with a steal and made layup in the Chargers basket, assisted by Kerr. Cubbage kept up her defensive efforts with a block back down on the Skyhawks end.   
• Stonehill's defensive efforts proved to be too much for the Chargers in the fourth quarter, preventing New Haven from scoring a field goal for nearly five and a half minutes. Cubbage had another steal and layup to stop the drought, but the Skyhawks were able to control the remainder of the game.

 
New Haven gets right back into action at Charger Gymnasium with a 5:30 pm tilt against Franklin Pierce. The game will serve as the second-to-last non-divisional game for New Haven before traveling to Southern New Hampshire for the final Northeast division game on Saturday, Jan. 27. For fans who are unable to attend Tuesday's game, live stats and video will be available on the Charger Sports Network.