Box Score

(01-30-10) WEST HAVEN, Conn. - The University of New Haven women's basketball team fell 81-72 to Merrimack College Saturday afternoon at Charger Gymnasium. With the loss the Chargers fall to 9-11 overall and 7-8 in the Northeast-10 Conference, while the Warriors improve to 8-12 overall and 6-9 in the NE-10.

The Chargers jumped out to an 8-0 lead to start the game, but the Warriors chipped away at the lead over the next four minutes to take a 13-12 lead with 13:22 left in the opening half. The Warriors built a lead of five over next six minutes. During the final six minutes of the first half, the Chargers kept trimming the lead and eventually went ahead going into the half. Dominique Stellmacher hit a running three-pointer at the buzzer to give UNH a 34-30 lead.

The second half was full of lead changes and ties through the first 15 minutes. Neither team was able to build a lead larger than six points. The back and forth action led to 21 lead changes and eight ties through the entire game. With a three-pointer by Casey Miller with 4:27 left the Warriors took the lead for good at 65-63. Merrimack kept coming at the Chargers and they could not recover. The Warriors built a nine-point lead with 90 seconds left on jumper by Gennifer Roy. The Chargers comeback during the final minutes brought them within five in the last three minutes.

New Haven was led by Helen Marte with 25 points on 10-of-13 from the field and 5-of-7 from the free throw line. Dominique Stellmacher had 18 points and nine rebounds, while Yasmin Ithier-Vicenty also scored in double figures with 10 points and seven rebounds. The Chargers shot 46 percent from the field for the game, but only 23 percent from three-point range.

The Chargers return to action on Wednesday, February 3 against American International College. Game time is set for 5:30 p.m.