WEST HAVEN, CONN. -
Aquillin Hayes (Harlem, N.Y./Wings Academy) scored a career-high tying 27 points to go along with 10 rebounds as the University of New Haven women's basketball team won its seventh consecutive game, 77-52 against the Saint Michael's Purple Knights on Tuesday afternoon at Charger Gymnasium as part of the third annual Class at the Court event.
With the win, the Chargers are now 13-2 and 7-2 in the Northeast-10 Conference. Saint Michael's falls to 7-7 overall with a 2-7 mark in the NE-10.
In addition to Hayes efforts,
Briana Bradford (Waterbury, Conn./Holy Cross) reached double figures for the third straight game, scoring 14.
Lauren Hebert (North Reading, Mass./North Reading) and
Ashley LeBlanc (Methuen, Mass./Methuen) each contributed eight points. New Haven as a team shot 50.0 percent from the floor, including a blistering 57.6 percent in the second half. It was the second time this season the Chargers made at least half their shots.
After New Haven ran out to an early 10-5 lead, Saint Michael's responded, scoring 18 of the next 26 points to take a 23-18 lead with 8:29 remaining in the half. From that point, the Chargers rallied, using a 16-4 run to close the half and take a 34-27 edge into the locker room. The defense also turned up their effort during the span, holding the Purple Knights without a field goal for the final 6:57 of the frame.
New Haven continued to expand its advantage in the second half as after Saint Michael's cut the lead to 34-32 in the first two minutes of the stanza, the Chargers outscored the Purple Knights 37-9 during the next 12:36 to claim a 71-41 lead with 5:33 remaining. Bradford was a big part of the stretch for New Haven, scoring 10 of her points during the run, ending the second half with 13.
During the game, more than 500 fourth graders from West Haven were in attendance as part of third annual Class at the Court event, hosted by the New Haven women's basketball team. Prior to the game, the students came to campus for a morning of experiential learning and community engagement with lessons pertinent to fourth-graders framed in the context of the game of basketball.
The Chargers now head face a stern road test as New Haven travels to Franklin Pierce for a Northeast-10 contest Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in Rindge, N.H.
Â