SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The University of New Haven women's basketball team opened a tight game late, scoring 20 of the final 21 points as the Chargers upended the Le Moyne Dolphins 81-63 in a Northeast-10 Conference matchup on Tuesday evening.
 
With the win, New Haven is now 2-1 with a 1-0 record in the NE-10. Le Moyne is 1-2 and drops to 0-1 in conference.
 
The Chargers were led by a career-high 21 points from Lauren Hebert (North Reading, Mass./North Reading), 18 of which came in the second half, to go along with seven rebounds. Quana Smith (Bronx, N.Y./Harry S. Truman) also had a career-best with 16 points, adding five assists and four boards. Briana Bradford (Waterbury, Conn./Holy Cross) had 15 points. Three other players just missed double figures as New Haven shot 52.9 percent from the field. India Dotson (Akron, Ohio/Frederick (Md.) / Monmouth University) scored nine with Alexandria Kerr (Montclair, N.J./Montclair) and Katia Oge (New City, N.Y./Immaculate Heart Academy) each netting eight. Oge also led the team with eight rebounds.
 
"Wins on the road are difficult to come by in the NE-10," said New Haven head coach, LaTonya Watson. "I'm very proud of the resiliency that our young women played with tonight. We played much more disciplined defensively down the stretch and executed well on the offense. Our team knows that our defense is what makes the difference in the end."
 
A hot start propelled the Chargers early as they scored the game's first 10 points on their way to building an 18-5 lead with 3:31 left in the first period. The Dolphins battled back to slice the lead to 19-17 at the end of the frame. New Haven led for the majority of the second period before Le Moyne went on a late run to take a 34-32 lead into halftime.
 
In the third, the Dolphins extended the lead as far out as four points at 42-38 before a 7-0 run by the Chargers, capped by a Hebert defensive rebound and layup, made it 45-42.
 
The two squads continued to play close into the fourth quarter as Le Moyne took a 62-61 lead on a Vandell Andrade free throw with 4:41 remaining. From there it was all New Haven, scoring the next 12 points, starting with a trio of free throws by Hebert and capped by a three-pointer by Smith, taking a 73-62 lead with 1:24 left. The Blue and Gold sealed the game at the line, hitting 8-of-10 from the charity stripe in the final minute, pulling away for the win.
 
In addition to their hot shooting from the floor overall, the Chargers were aided by hitting 8-for-15 from beyond the arc.
 
New Haven returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 21 at 1:30 p.m. when it takes on Saint Rose in a Northeast-10 Conference game at Charger Gymnasium.