BOX SCORE WINTER PARK, Fla. – The University of New Haven women's basketball team overcame an early deficit and shutdown Davis & Elkins in the second half en route to a 70-43 victory on the first day of the Rollins Thanksgiving Tournament. Aquillin Hayes (Harlem, N.Y./Wings Academy) led the Chargers with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
 
With the victory, New Haven improves to 5-1 on the season. The Chargers will play host and nationally-ranked No. 17 Rollins tomorrow at 3 p.m. Davis & Elkins, which drops to 1-6, will meet Stillman in the consolation game.
 
Hayes complemented her second double-double of the season with three blocked shots, while Bria Moore (West Haven, Conn./Hill Regional Career) tallied 12 points to lead 10 different Chargers who scored in the victory. Audrey Cunningham (Germantown, Md./Seneca Valley) added eight points with seven apiece coming from Ayana Duncanson (Elmont, N.Y./Francis Lewis), Rykema Stone (Bronx, N.Y./Wings Academy), Lauren Hebert (North Reading, Mass./North Reading) and Jasmine Gibson (Brooklyn, N.Y./Spring Valley). Elizabeth Cruso (Westerly, R.I./Westerly) notched five points, Ana Obella (Miami, Fla./Cypress Bay) had four and Ashley LeBlanc (Methuen, Mass./Methuen) rounded out the scoring with two points.
 
As a unit, the Chargers shot 25-for-62 (40 percent) from the field, 4-for-12 (33.3 percent) from three-point range and 16-for-27 (59.3 percent) from the free throw line.
 
Stone hauled in 11 rebounds and Duncanson corralled eight as New Haven outworked the Senators to a 57-53 advantage on the boards. Davis & Elkins earned a 17-14 edge in the turnover battle, but the Chargers were the more opportunistic team, leading by a 12-11 count in points-off-turnovers.
 
Gibson and Hebert each handed out three assists, with Gibson also adding four steals.
 
Davis & Elkins raced out to a 17-6 advantage over the first 9:42 of the game as the Chargers connected on just two of their first 10 field goal attempts. However, New Haven would heat up – shooting 10-for-20 from the floor and outscoring the Senators by a 25-11 count the rest of the way to head into the intermission with a 31-28 lead. Cunningham and Cruso connected on back-to-back three-pointers to complete the New Haven comeback after the Chargers had missed their first seven tries from distance.
 
Eight Chargers found the bottom of the net in the first half, and Hayes led the way with seven points, 10 rebounds and two blocked shots in the period. Cruso, Cunningham and Moore each had five over the opening 20 minutes of action.
 
New Haven continued its run out of the locker room, netting the first 12 points of the half while holding the Senators scoreless for the first 4:26 of the stanza. The Chargers built a 48-30 lead before Davis & Elkins scored again at the 11:43 mark, and New Haven rolled the rest of the way to a 70-43 victory.
 
The 43 points allowed by New Haven are a season-best defensively, and the Chargers' 15 point surrendered in the second half also mark the best defensive effort of the 2013-14 campaign.
 
Sharmaine Baker scored a team-high 11 points for the Senators. Davis & Elkins shot 17-for-77 (22.1 percent) from the field, 1-for-24 (4.2 percent) from distance and 8-for-15 (53.3 percent) from the charity stripe.
 
After tomorrow's Championship Game against the host Tars, New Haven returns to East Region action on Wednesday, Dec. 4 at defending regional champion Dowling. Tip-off from Oakdale, N.Y. is set for 6 p.m.