Box Score

(11-18-09) SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The University of New Haven women's basketball team defeated American International College 56-52 Wednesday night in its 2009-10 Northeast-10 Conference opener. The Chargers improve to 2-0 overall, while the Yellow Jackets fall to 0-1 overall.

With 5:32 remaining in the second half, UNH's Yasmin Ithier-Vicenty connected on a lay-up to give the Chargers a three-point lead. However, the Yellow Jackets cut the lead to just one (49-48) a minute later. The next four minutes of the game, UNH and AIC exchanged the lead. At the 1:07 mark, junior guard Dominique Stellmacher connected on a jumper to give the Chargers the lead for good. UNH hit three free-throws down the stretch to give them the four-point win in its first NE-10 game of the season.

In the first half, UNH fell behind quickly, as AIC took an 18-7 lead at the 11:27 mark. UNH was able to chip away at the Yellow Jackets lead and trailed by just five with 7:53 left in the half, off a layup from freshman Olivia DeMarco. UNH continued to play an up-tempo style, and eventually cut the lead to just one off a jumper from senior Lindsay Salt with 4:09 left in the first half. However, AIC matched New Haven's aggressiveness and went into the locker room with a six-point lead. DeMarco led the Chargers with eight first-half points.

Stellmacher, DeMarco, and Jill Baranger led the team with 10 points each. DeMarco went 5-of-6 from the floor, and grabbed four rebounds. Stellmacher also tallied five rebounds and a team-high four assists. Baranger added five rebounds and a block.

New Haven shot 41.5 percent (22-of-55) from the floor, but just 7.7 percent (1-of-13) from beyond the arc. AIC won the battle of the boards 47 to 35, including 17 offensive boards. The Chargers held AIC to 32.3 percent shooting (20-of-62) and 23.8 percent (5-of-21) from downtown.

The Chargers return to action on Saturday, November 21 when it travels to Holy Family. Game time is set for 3:30 p.m.