New Haven vs. Saint Rose
Wednesday, Nov. 13 - 7 p.m.
West Haven, Conn. - Charger Gymnasium
Live Stats | Live Video
Complete Game Notes (PDF)
Opening Tip
The University of New Haven women's basketball team takes the court at Charger Gymnasium for the first time in 2013-14 and for the first time under Head Coach Ty Grace. The Chargers play host to visiting Saint Rose in the Northeast-10 opener for both teams.
Chargers' Last Time Out
New Haven ushered in the Ty Grace era with a 77-74 overtime victory on Saturday afternoon at Dominican. Briana Bradford scored a game-high 23 points in the season-opening triumph. Bradford netted 13 of her 23 points in the second half and overtime.
Rykema Stone scored a career-best 16 points, and Aquillin Hayes was the third Charger in double-figures with 12 tallies off of the bench. Elizabeth Cruso poured in eight points in addition to matching her career high with a team-leading four assists.
Bradford also led the way with eight rebounds – including five off of the offensive boards. Hayes and Stone added six rips apiece to guide New Haven to 41-31 advantage on the glass. The Chargers turned their 16 offensive rebounds into 18 second-chance points. UNH also won the turnover battle, 23-22, and each club scored 20 points off of opponent miscues.
As a unit, New Haven shot 27-for-60 (45 percent) from the floor and 22-for-30 (73.3 percent) from the free throw line. Cruso drained the lone three-pointer for the Chargers on seven total attempts
Scouting Saint Rose
The College of Saint Rose Golden Knights begin conference play after a 1-1 weekend against two CACC foes. Saint Rose was edged by host University of the Sciences, 69-68, on Friday and bounced back on Saturday with a 68-53 triumph over Goldey-Beacom.
Saint Rose was tabbed for fifth in the seven-member Southwest Division in the NE-10 Preseason Coaches Poll, garnering one first-place vote. The Golden Knights went 9-17 overall and 6-16 in the conference last winter.
Gabie Polce has led Saint Rose early in 2013-14 with 17.0 points per game. Four Golden Knights are averaging double figures through the first two outings of the season.
Last Season vs. Saint Rose
The Chargers swept the home-and-home series with the Golden Knights last season, opening Northeast-10 play with a 73-63 win in Albany and capping the regular-season with a 71-65 triumph on Senior Day at Charger Gymnasium.
Briana Bradford averaged a team-high 18.5 points per game in the two outings, sparked by a career-best 23 tallies in the February meeting in West Haven.
Aquillin Hayes missed the Chargers' road game at Saint Rose due to injury, but made an impact in the return bout with nine points and 17 boards.
The Golden Knights' Nicole Bini and Gabie Polce each averaged double figures against New Haven with 13.0 and 11.0 points per game, respectively.
All-Time Series
Saint Rose owns a 5-4 lead in an all-time series that dates back to the Chargers' entry into the Northeast-10 in the 2008-09 campaign.
New Haven won the first two and the most recent two meetings in the series, with Saint Rose claiming five straight from Feb. 2010 to Feb. 2012.
New Haven Notes
Following Saturday's overtime victory at Dominican, the Chargers open a season at 1-0 for the first time since 2009-10.
Briana Bradford scored a game-high 23 points in the win, matching her career high attained twice during the 2012-13 campaign. She scored 13 points in the second half and overtime.
Bradford's 2012-13 All-Rookie Team distinction marked the third straight season that a Charger earned a spot alongside the NE-10's top freshmen, following 2011-12 Rookie of the Year Bria Moore and 2010-11 All-Rookie selection Anh-Dao Tran. Bradford ranked third among NE-10 freshman and 14th overall in the conference with 12.7 points per game while also contributing 4.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists per contest. She averaged 31.6 minutes per game as a starter in all 27 games and was a three-time Northeast-10 Rookie of the Week.
Aquillin Hayes averaged 10.3 points, 10.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game with seven double-doubles last season. She ranked third in the Northeast-10 and 24th in all of Division II on the glass and was also the conference's third-most prolific shot blocker. Hayes nearly registered a triple-double with 12 points, 21 rebounds and eight blocked shots in the Chargers' 95-52 thrashing of Le Moyne on Feb. 16.
Hayes' 21 boards in the triumph over the Dolphins were the most by a Charger since Joy Jeter had 23 rebounds in a win over Keene State on Jan. 23, 1988. A New Haven Athletics Hall of Famer, three-time All-America honoree and the NCAA Tournament's Most Outstanding Player for the 1987 National Championship team, Jeter is New Haven's all-time leader in both career points (2,299) and career rebounds (1,486).
The Chargers were one of three Northeast-10 teams to average more than 70 points per game (third, 71.0 ppg) last winter. New Haven also led the NE-10 in fewest turnovers committed with 15.7 giveaways per contest.
The Chargers' 13 Northeast-10 wins and sixth-place regular season finish in 2012-13 both marked program bests since joining the NE-10. At 14-13 overall, New Haven also finished above .500 for the first time since posting a 21-9 mark en route to the East Coast Conference regular season crown in 2007-08.
Up Next
The Chargers will have seven days between competition before continuing the Northeast-10 Southwest Division slate at home against visiting Le Moyne. The 5:30 p.m. contest on Wednesday, Nov. 20 will be broadcast live in high definition and free of charge on NewHavenChargers.com.
