WEST HAVEN, Conn. – The University of New Haven women's basketball team was on the short end of an 87-65 contest against No. 1 Bentley on Wednesday evening at Charger Gymnasium. Aquillin Hayes (Harlem, N.Y./Wings Academy) scored a team-high 20 points for the Chargers.
 
With the loss, New Haven stands at 12-5 overall and 7-4 in the Northeast-10. Bentley, which has been ranked No. 1 since the preseason, improves to 17-0 with a 12-0 conference mark.
 
Hayes supplemented her 20 points with a team-leading six rebounds. Briana Bradford (Waterbury, Conn./Holy Cross) shot 8-for-8 from the free throw line and drained two three-pointers en route to 18 points alongside three assists. Bria Moore (West Haven, Conn./Hill Regional Career) added eight points, and Elizabeth Cruso (Westerly, R.I./Westerly) and Audrey Cunningham (Germantown, Md./Seneca Valley) each scored seven. Rounding out the Chargers' offense were Ashley LeBlanc (Methuen, Mass./Methuen) with four points and Lauren Hebert (North Reading, Mass./North Reading) with one.
 
Collectively, New Haven shot 21-for-61 (34.4 percent) from the field, 4-for-13 (30.8 percent) from the three-point range and 19-for-26 (73.1 percent) from the free throw line.
 
The Chargers were outrebounded, 49-35. New Haven converted 16 offensive boards into 14 second-chance points, while Bentley netted 20 points off of 20 rips from the offensive glass.
 
Jacqui Brugliera led five Falcons in double figures with a game-high 26 points. Bentley shot 32-for-68 (47.1 percent) from the floor, 5-for-20 (25 percent) from distance and 18-for-23 (78.3 percent) at the line.
 
Bentley scored the game's first 11 points and led wire-to-wire. New Haven would trim an 18-point deficit in half to 43-34 before heading to the locker room facing a 45-34 deficit.
 
The Chargers scored six of the first eight points in the second half to climb within seven points at 47-40, but Bentley responded with a 17-6 run and build a gap as large as 26 points. Just as it had over the opening 20 minutes, New Haven was ultimately outscored by 11 points in the second half to fall by a final score of 87-65.
 
The Chargers return to the court on Saturday, Jan. 25 with a 1:30 p.m. visit to Stonehill. The Skyhawks stand at 10-5 overall and 7-4 in the NE-10 following a 79-77 loss at Southern Connecticut State this evening.