NORTH ANOVER, Mass. - Elizabeth Cruso (Westerly, R.I./Westerly) drove into the lane and sunk a layup as time expired to lift the nationally ranked No. 25 University of New Haven women's basketball team to a 68-66 victory at Merrimack Saturday afternoon. Cruso's game-winner was the only basket score by the Chargers in the final five minutes as UNH took a 66-59 lead with 5:00 left in the second half.

New Haven moves to 17-3 overall and 11-3 in the Northeast-10 Conference with the victory. The Warriors fall to 10-8 overall and 6-7 in NE-10 action.

Five Chargers scored in double figures, led by Bria Moore (West Haven, Conn./Hill Regional Career) with 15. The senior went 6-of-8 from the floor, 1-of-2 from three-point range and 2-for-2 at the charity stripe. She added three rebounds and a steal. Briana Bradford (Waterbury, Conn./Holy Cross) added 14 points, while Aquillin Hayes (Harlem, N.Y./Wings Academy), Ashley LeBlanc (Methuen, Mass./Methuen) and Lauren Hebert (North Reading, Mass./North Reading) each tallied 10 points. LaBlanc recorded her second double-double of the season, while grabbing a season-high 14 rebounds. She added three steals and a block to her statline in the win. Hayes added seven boards, while Cruso finished with seven points and two assists.

New Haven capitalized at the free throw line, making 90.9 percent (20-22) of its shots. Hebert converted all six of her attempts, while Bradford went 6-for-8. The Chargers out-rebounded the Warriors 36-31 and held a narrow 34-32 advantage in the paint.

The two teams struggled in the early going as each team turned the ball over three times in the first five minutes. With 9:57 left in the opening half, Hayes put in a layup and evened the game at 15-15. A traditional three-point play from Bradford gave the Chargers their largest lead of the first half at the 3:42 mark, 31-24. A 9.4 run by Merrimack to close the half narrowed New Haven's halftime lead to two, 35-33.

The lead exchanged hands four times in the first three minutes of the second half as the game was tied 40-40 at the 17:00 mark. New Haven followed with a 13-4 run to take a nine-point lead at the 11:50 mark. LeBlanc's layup at 10:56 kept the Chargers ahead by eight, but the Warriors rallied with a 10-2 run and knotted the game at 57-57 with 7:04 remaining. The back-and-forth momentum continued until the 2:29 mark when a pair of Chloe Rothman free throws tied the game once against at 66-66. Both teams had opportunities to take the lead in the final minutes, but three turnovers and three missed shots gave the Chargers possession in the final seconds. Hayes grabbed a defensive rebound with 13 seconds left and Cruso capitalized with the offensive opportunities.

The Chargers' game at Merrimack concluded UNH's NE-10 Northeast Division crossover play and the Chargers went 7-1 against the counterparts. New Haven also concludes the month of January with a record of 8-1.

After winning their second game in the last three days, the Chargers are off until Wednesday, Feb. 4 when they take the short trip across town to Southern Connecticut State. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. New Haven won the first meeting of the season against the Owls on Jan. 3 by a score of 79-76.