SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The nationally-ranked No. 21 University of New Haven women's basketball team rallied from a 14-point second half deficit, scoring 34 of the final 48 points of the game, to defeat American International 66-60 in a Northeast-10 Conference Southwest Division matchup from Butova Gymnasium Wednesday evening.

With the win, New Haven is now 22-3 overall and 16-3 in the NE-10. The Yellow Jackets fall to 13-13 with an 8-10 record in conference play.

Aquillin Hayes (Harlem, N.Y./Wings Academy) led New Haven with 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Bria Moore (West Haven, Conn./Hill Regional Career) added 13 points for the Chargers, while Briana Bradford (Waterbury, Conn./Holy Cross) contributed 12. Ashley LeBlanc recorded her second consecutive double-double and her fourth in six games with 10 points and 13 rebounds.

A slow start put the Chargers in an early hole as after the two teams played evenly for the first 6:41 of the game, AIC went on a 16-7 run during which New Haven shot just 2-for-19 from the floor. The Yellow Jackets used it to build a 26-17 lead. The Chargers gained some of the momentum heading into halftime as New Haven hit two of their least three shots to draw within 26-22 as the half expired.

The second half did not start much better for the Chargers as a 4-for-17 start from the field allowed American International to take a 46-32 lead with 10:27 remaining. At that point, New Haven started their attack. Baskets by Hayes, Quana Smith (Bronx, N.Y./Harry S. Truman) and Bradford cut the lead to 46-38 in a matter of two minutes. The lead remained eight at 54-46 when the Blue and Gold made its next push. A layup and three free throws by Bradford cut the lead to 54-41 before a defensive stop and a layup by Moore sliced the lead to 54-53 at the 2:17 mark.

A pair of Alyssa Roach free throws extended the Yellow Jackets lead to 56-53 before Sade King (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Mount Vernon / Hampton University) hit a pull-up jumper on the left side to get the advantage back to a single point. An AIC turnover led to a fastbreak for the Chargers where Bradford drove the lane before kicking the ball out to Moore to nailed a three from the right corner to give New Haven its first lead since the opening minutes.

From there, the Chargers won the game from the line, hitting 8-of-10 at the charity stripe in the final minute of play. The Blue and Gold also hit their shots from the field down the stretch, making 11-of-14 baskets in the final 10 minutes of the contest.

New Haven now is off until Tuesday, Feb. 24 when it hosts No. 12 Adelphi in a Senior Night showdown at Charger Gymnasium. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.