BOX SCORE NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The University of New Haven women's basketball team used a 22-7 run midway through the second half to pull away from host Southern Connecticut State, 81-68, on Sunday afternoon at Moore Field House. Bria Moore (West Haven, Conn./Hill Regional Career) led four Chargers in double figures with a game-high 17 points.
 
With the third consecutive win over their crosstown and Northeast-10 divisional rivals, the Chargers improve to 8-3 overall and 4-2 in the conference. The Owls fall to 5-6 on the season with a 1-5 NE-10 mark.
 
Thirteen of Moore's 17 points came in the second half as the Chargers erased a deficit and built a late lead. Aquillin Hayes (Harlem, N.Y./Wings Academy) netted 14 points – including nine during the Chargers' second-half run, and Briana Bradford (Waterbury, Conn./Holy Cross) and Audrey Cunningham (Germantown, Md./Seneca Valley) each scored 11 points off the New Haven bench.
 
Cunningham drained three of the Chargers' five three-pointers, moving into a tie of ninth place all-time at New Haven with 88 career triples. She is currently deadlocked with her former teammate Nicole Pollard (2007-11) and surpassed Kate Simmons (1996-99) with today's effort.
 
Ten Chargers scored in the contest with Rykema Stone (Bronx, N.Y./Wings Academy) adding nine points and six rebounds. Elizabeth Cruso (Westerly, R.I./Westerly) scored seven points, and Ayana Duncanson (Elmont, N.Y./Francis Lewis) had five to go along with a team-leading 11 rebounds. Rounding out the scoring were Jasmine Gibson (Brooklyn, N.Y./Spring Valley) with four points, Lauren Hebert (North Reading, Mass./North Reading) with two and Ashley LeBlanc (Methuen, Mass./Methuen) adding one.
 
New Haven was edged on the boards, 42-40, but capitalized with 18 rips from the offensive glass. The Chargers forced a season-best 26 turnovers while committing 15 miscues.
 
Jackie Beathea led the Owls with 15 points and 15 rebounds.
 
The first run of the afternoon went to the Owls, who broke a 9-9 deadlock with nine straight points over the next 2:27. The deficit grew as large as 10 points at 27-17 and held to a 33-23 count at the 5:16 mark of the period. New Haven would trim the lead to four points, 38-34, before layups from Jackie Beathea and Taylor McLaughlin extended the margin back to eight at 42-34. Over the final two minutes, a free throw from Hayes and buckets by Bradford and Gibson sent the Chargers into the locker room trailing by one possession, 42-39.
 
Bradford scored nine first-half points to lead the New Haven offense. Cunningham knocked down a pair of three-pointers to rack up six points before the intermission, and Stone also tallied six. Duncanson hauled in five rebounds as the Chargers were edged on the glass, 22-21.
 
A Moore three-point play on New Haven's first possession of the second half knotted the game at 42-42, and the Chargers answered an SCSU trey with a layup and the foul from Hayes to maintain the tie at 45-45. After the Owls reopened a five-point lead at 53-48, New Haven would hold the home team without a point for the ensuing 3:42 of action. However, the Chargers' offense managed only four free throws during that span as SCSU maintained a slim lead at 53-52. A Beathea layup ended the Owls' scoring drought, and New Haven responded with an 8-0 run to claim its first lead of the second half. Hayes and four points, a blocked shot and assist during the stretch that staked the Blue and Gold to a 60-55 advantage with 9:20 to play. After an Owls' timeout, New Haven continued to roll with a Cunningham trey as the run grew to 14-2 in total over a span of 5:27 as the Chargers claimed their largest lead of the contest at 66-57.
 
SCSU netted the next three points to close the gap before Moore notched a bucket on back-to-back trips to extend the cushion to double figures at 70-60. An Owls free throw briefly took one point off the deficit, but Hebert went on to add two at the stripe and Cruso sank a pull-up jumper. A three-point  play for Moore assisted by Duncanson capped the run at 11-1 with 3:06 to play as New Haven built a 77-61 advantage. The clubs traded buckets down the stretch as New Haven kept the Owls at arm's length to preserve the 81-68 triumph.
 
The Chargers will return to the court in 2014 with a non-conference visit from Molloy on Friday, Jan. 3. Tip-off from Charger Gymnasium is set for 6 p.m.