WEST HAVEN, Conn. – The University of New Haven women's basketball team overcame a six-point halftime deficit to knock off visiting Saint Rose, 71-68, in the Chargers' home and Northeast-10 opener. Briana Bradford (Waterbury, Conn./Holy Cross) led all players with a career-high 24 points.
 
With the victory, New Haven improves to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the NE-10. The Golden Knights fall to 1-2 with an 0-1 conference mark.
 
Bradford's 24 points came on 7-for-13 shooting from the field with a career-best five three-pointers. She also distributed a team-leading five assists. Bria Moore (West Haven, Conn./Hill Regional Career) joined her in double figures with 13 points in addition to six rebounds. Lauren Hebert (North Reading, Mass./North Reading) added nine points off the bench, all in the second half. Elizabeth Cruso (Westerly, R.I./Westerly) and Ayana Duncanson (Elmont, N.Y./Francis Lewis) netted six points apiece. Rykema Stone (Bronx, N.Y./Wings Academy) pulled down eight rebounds in addition her five points, and Aquillin Hayes (Harlem, N.Y./Wings Academy) scored four points while hauling in nine boards. Ashley LeBlanc (Methuen, Mass./Methuen) and Ana Obella (Miami, Fla./Cypress Bay) rounded out the New Haven scoring with two points apiece.
 
As a team, New Haven shot 24-for-68 (35.3 percent) from the field, 10-for-23 (43.5 percent) from beyond the arc and 13-for-23 (56.5 percent) from the free throw line.
 
The Chargers were outrebounded, 51-40, put held a 15-13 advantage in second-chance points. New Haven committed only nine turnovers while forcing 18 Golden Knights' miscues.
 
Saint Rose was led by 14 points apiece from Mariah Lesure and Gabie Polce. Jamie Hutcheson added a double-double with 12 points and 10 assists. The Golden Knights shot 26-for-59 (44.1 percent) from the floor, 6-for-17 (35.3 percent) from three-point range and 10-for-21 (47.6 percent) from the line.
 
The visitors began the game on a 10-3 run over the opening 3:33 before back-to-back triples from Bradford and Cruso cut the margin to one point. The Golden Knights would keep New Haven at arm's length, reopening a lead as large as nine and heading into the locker room with a 37-31 advantage. Bradford netted 14 points in the opening frame fueled by a 4-for-5 showing from three-point range.
 
After Hutcheson knocked down a three-pointer to reopen the largest lead of the game for Saint Rose at 40-31, a trey from Moore started New Haven on a 9-0 run over the next 4:58 to knot the contest at 40-40 with 14:31 to go. Duncanson had the final four points during the stretch to pull the Chargers even. The Golden Knights answered with another triple before Bradford converted a coast-to-coast steal and layup followed by her fifth trifecta of the evening to reclaim the advantage. The clubs would trade the lead four more times over the ensuing four minutes of play, with a Bradford free throw putting the Blue and Gold into the lead and Moore following a three-pointer into increase the margin to 55-11 with 9:11 left.
 
Duncanson added a bucket to give New Haven its largest lead of the day at 57-51 before Saint Rose responded with a 10-5 stretch to cut it to 62-61. Once again, Moore stepped up with a clutch three-pointer, extended the lead back to two possessions at 65-61 with 4:25 to play. The visitors would again trim the deficit to one point at 69-68 and had possession with less than 30 seconds remaining. Saint Rose would find its way to the foul line at the 24-second mark but missed both attempts. Bradford then hit one free throw and missed the second, but Duncanson came through with the offensive board with just 17 seconds left. Bradford again sank one-of-two at the stripe on the ensuing possession to stake the Chargers to a 71-68 edge with 11 ticks left. The Golden Knights had a chance to tie on their final trip, but Nicole Bini's three-pointer drew iron and the visitors could do nothing with the offensive board as time expired.
 
Moore notched 11 of her 13 points in the second half, including three three-pointers. Bradford had 10 over the final 20 minutes and all of Hebert's nine tallies came after the intermission.
 
The Chargers will have a week off from competition before resuming Northeast-10 action at Charger Gymnasium on Nov. 20 with a 5:30 p.m. visit from Le Moyne. The action will be broadcast live in high definition and free of charge on NewHavenChargers.com.