BOX SCORE Box Score

WEST HAVEN, Conn. - The University of New Haven women's basketball team defeats Southern Connecticut State University, 81-65, in the opening round of the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament. With the win, the Chargers advance to play at #1 seeded Franklin Pierce University Tuesday night. New Haven improves to 14-14 overall, 11-11 in the NE-10, while SCSU completes their season 13-15 overall and 10-12 in the NE-10.

New Haven opened up the game on a 7-2 run in the first three minutes. The Chargers continued to attack the SCSU defense bringing their lead up to eight points at the 9:28 mark on a jumper from Nicole Pollard (Swansea, Mass./Joseph Case ). Pollard remained a constant threat hitting a layup and a pair of free throws giving UNH a twelve-point lead, 27-15, with 7:24 left in the half. The Owls then cut the lead to nine, 31-22, with 3:39 remaining in the half. UNH closed the half strong on a 9-3 run bringing its lead to 17, 42-25.

Pollard led the Chargers with 20 first half-points. She went 8-for-8 from the free throw line and hit a pair of three-pointers. Dominique Stellmacher (New Britain, Conn./New Britain ) added seven points, while Yasmin Ithier-Vicenty (Newington, Conn./Newington) tallied five points, six rebounds and three steals.

UNH did not let up in the second half, pushing their lead to 24 at the 16:23 mark on layup by Jill Baranger (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Ludlowe ). SCSU cut the Charger lead to 14, after a three-pointer at the 12:16 mark, but Stellmacher answered for New Haven completing the four-point play. UNH held at least a 20-point lead until the last minute of the game when SCSU hit a layup, to finish the game 81-65.

Pollard led all scorers with 22 points, hitting 6-of-10 from the floor. Stellmacher added 18 points and six rebounds. Ithier-Vicenty nearly missed a double-double with 13 points and eight rebounds. She also tallied six steals.

The Chargers advance to the quarterfinals of the NE-10 Championship tournament and take on Franklin Pierce University. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 2. With a win against nationally ranked No. 2 Franklin Pierce, the Chargers would move on to the semifinals of the tournament, which will take place Friday night.