WEST HAVEN, Conn. – Briana Bradford (Waterbury, Conn./Holy Cross) scored a season-high 26 points as the University of New Haven women's basketball team downed its cross-town rivals, the Southern Connecticut State University Owls 67-55 in a Northeast-10 Conference game on Wednesday night.
 
With the win the Chargers are now 4-3 overall and are 2-2 in the NE-10. The Owls fall to 4-3 with an 0-3 mark in conference play.
 
In addition to Bradford's third consecutive 20-plus point effort, Quana Smith (Bronx, N.Y./Harry S. Truman) recorded career-highs with 17 points and nine rebounds to go along with a team-best six assists. Lauren Hebert (North Reading, Mass./North Reading) contributed with 12 points and nine boards.
 
New Haven got off to a hot start, opening an 8-2 lead just more than four minutes into the contest with Katia Oge (New City, N.Y./Immaculate Heart Academy) scoring the final two buckets of the run. From that point, the two teams settled into a defensive battle, with the Chargers holding a 12-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.
 
The second period was a big one for Bradford, who kept New Haven in the frame, hitting four three-pointers in the quarter. The second of her triples in period pushed the advantage to 18-10 before the Owls made their push, going on a 10-0 run, taking their first lead of the night at 20-18. Three ties and two lead changes ensued in the next four minutes before Bradford's final trey of the frame put the Blue and Gold on top 31-29. Southern Connecticut would answer last as a layup by Taylor McLaughlin tied the game at 31-31 heading into halftime.
 
Entering the second half, New Haven started to get some separation, outscoring the Owls 21-14, taking a 52-45 lead by the end of the period. The Chargers started well, opening on a 12-4 run with Smith, Bradford and Alexandria Kerr (Montclair, N.J./Montclair) scoring four points each.
 
In the fourth, the Blue and Gold opened up as much as an 11 point lead with 4:11 remaining before the Owls went on a 6-0 run to slice the score to 60-55. After a Kerr layup with 1:02 to go, New Haven put the game away at the line, hitting on 5-of-6 free throws in the final minute.
 
The Chargers return to action on Saturday, Dec. 5 when they travel to Pleasantville, N.Y. to take on the Pace Setters in a Northeast-10 Conference matchup. Tipoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.