New Haven (13-6, 8-5 NE-10) vs. Merrimack (10-8, 6-7 NE-10)
Saturday, Feb. 1 – 1:30 p.m.
West Haven, Conn. – Charger Gymnasium
Live Video | Live Stats
 
Complete Game Notes (PDF)
 
Opening Tip
The University of New Haven women's basketball team concludes action against the Northeast-10 Northeast Division with a visit from Merrimack.
 
Last Time Out
New Haven pulled away from host Southern New Hampshire to claim a 62-50 victory on Tuesday.
 
Bria Moore racked up a season-high 25 points on 10-for-16 shooting with two three-pointers. She fell just shy of a double-double with nine rebounds.
 
Elizabeth Cruso and Audrey Cunningham each knocked down two three-pointers en route to nine and eight points, respectively.
 
Aquillin Hayes scored seven points to go along with 10 rebounds. She shared the game high on the glass with Rykema Stone, who also blocked three shots, as New Haven earned a 46-41 rebounding edge – including 17 offensive boards that resulted in 19 second-chance points.
 
After a 16-16 deadlock with 5:18 to go in the opening half, a Cruso three-pointer staked the Chargers to a lead they would not relinquish and started the Blue and Gold on a 7-0 run. In total, New Haven ended the half with a 12-2 stretch to take a 28-18 lead into the locker room.
 
The Penmen shrank the margin down to five points at 35-30 with 15:34 remaining, at which point New Haven clamped down defensively and pulled away from the hosts. The Chargers held Southern New Hampshire without a field goal for a span of 12:26, including an 8:14 stretch without a point of any kind, to open up a 58-35 advantage late in the second half. The Penmen made a late push, but New Haven's lead proved insurmountable as the Chargers rolled to a 62-50 victory.
 
New Haven Notes
New Haven has limited 10 opponents to fewer than 60 points this winter, including a season-low 43 tallies surrendered to Davis & Elkins on Nov. 29. Opponents have been held to a 35.8 field goal percentage and a 31.4 three-point percentage while committing an average of 16.4 turnovers per game against the Blue and Gold's defensive pressure.
 
The Chargers rank second in the Northeast-10 with 61.6 points allowed per game and lead the conference in opponents' field goal percentage at 35.8 percent. Offensively, New Haven slots seventh in the NE-10 with 68.9 points per game.
 
The Chargers have knocked down eight or more three-pointers in four games this season, including 10 treys in the Nov. 13 win over Saint Rose.
 
After her season-best 25-point, nine-rebound performance on Tuesday, Bria Moore has scored in double figures in 13 games this winter, including a streak of seven outings in a row from Nov. 26 to Dec. 22. She averages 11.9 points and 4.9 rebounds per contest and has provided a spark from long range, ranking fifth in the NE-10 at 42.0 percent (21-for-50) from distance.
 
Aquillin Hayes has recorded six double-doubles this season en route to 13.4 points per contest and ranks second in the Northeast-10 with 9.9 rebounds per game. Hayes, who posted a team-high seven double-doubles last winter, netted a career-high 27 points at Saint Michael's on Jan. 14 and matched her personal best last Saturday at Stonehill.
 
Hayes shot 9-for-9 from the free throw line against the Skyhawks. The last perfect day from the stripe for a Charger with at least nine attempts was a 12-for-12 showing by Helin Marte at Southern New Hampshire on Jan. 26, 2010.
 
Hayes has two career games with at least 20 rebounds, including the November overtime contest at No. 17 Rollins. She hauled in 21 boards to go along with 12 points and eight blocks in a win over Le Moyne last winter.
 
This season, Briana Bradford has surpassed 20 points in four games en route to a team-high 14.7 points per contest. She scored a career-high 24 points with five three-pointers in the Nov. 13 win over Saint Rose. Bradford also drained five from beyond the arc en route to 21 points in the conference win at Pace on Nov. 23.
 
With 94 career three-pointers to her credit, Audrey Cunningham has climbed into seventh on the Chargers' all-time list. Her next three-pointer will tie Nikki Tierney Devaney (1990-94) for sixth place, and she is six triples shy of becoming the sixth player to knock down 100 attempts from distance for the Blue and Gold. A senior in the classroom, Cunningham is in the midst of her third season of eligibility after missing the entirety of 2012-13 due to injury.
 
The six teams that have defeated the Chargers this winter currently boast a combined record of 86-26 (.768). Among those six teams, Bentley in the unbeaten No. 1 ranked team in the USA Today Sports Division II Top 25 Coaches' Poll at 19-0, while Rollins (17-3) and Adelphi (14-5) check in at No. 13 and No. 25, respectively.
 
The Chargers' 4-0 start was the first for the program since the 1989-90 team won its first six outings. The Blue and Gold also began at 3-0 in the conference for the first time since 2009-10.
 
Up Next
The second trip through the Northeast-10 Southwest Division begins with a visit from crosstown rival Southern Connecticut State. Action between the Chargers and Owls tips off from Charger Gymnasium at 5:30 p.m. and will be broadcast live in high definition and free of charge on NewHavenChargers.com.