GARDEN CITY, N.Y. – The nationally-ranked No. 23 University of New Haven women's basketball team got a steal from Briana Bradford (Waterbury, Conn./Holy Cross) with seven seconds left that led to a layup and then withstood a potential game-winning three-pointer to top No. 13 Stonehill 58-57 in the NCAA Division II East Region Championship game on Monday night at the Center for Recreation and Sport on the campus of Adelphi.

With the win, New Haven will represent the East Region in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight starting on March 24. The Chargers will play Cal Baptist who defeated Cal Poly Pomona in the West Region Championship game 81-58.

With the win, the Chargers improve to 26-5. The Stonehill season comes to an end at 24-5.

Aquillin Hayes (Harlem, N.Y./Wings Academy) recorded her third double-double of the tournament behind 21 points and 10 rebounds on her way to earning East Region Championship MVP honors. Elizabeth Cruso (Westerly, R.I./Westerly) and Lauren Hebert (North Reading, Mass./North Reading) scored eight points each with Hebert grabbing seven rebounds. Joining Hayes on the All-Championship Team was Rykema Stone (Bronx, N.Y./Wings Academy) with six points and four rebounds. She averaged eight points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game.

Trailing 57-56 in the waning seconds of the game, New Haven elected to play defense rather than foul the Skyhawks. With seven seconds left, Paige Marshall dribbled the ball up the arc on the right side. Bradford got a hand into the mix, stealing the ball away before racing in a half-step ahead of the Stonehill defense, converting a layup with 4.2 seconds remaining.

The Skyhawks had one last chance as a three-pointer by Kelly Martin was on target, but hit off the front of the rim as time expired.

Stonehill started the game strong, opening up a 9-4 lead just four minutes into the contest. New Haven found its legs following the first media timeout, ripping off a 10-0 run, the first six points of which were scored by Hayes to take a 14-9 lead. The Skyhawks answered back, scoring 12 of the next 14 points to take a 21-16 advantage with 6:43 remaining. The two squads continued a nip and tuck first half with Stonehill eventually taking a 33-32 lead into halftime.

In the second half, the Skyhawks upped their lead to 42-36, the largest advantage for either team in the game, at the 16:41 mark. The Chargers continued to battle, but could not get over the hump for the next 10 minutes. Down 52-50, New Haven finally broke through as Cruso hit the second trey of the night for the Chargers to take a 53-52 lead with 5:56 to go. After a pair of empty sets for both teams, Cruso struck again from distance to put New Haven up 56-52.

Undeterred, Stonehill rallied to score the next five points on a layup and a three by Marshall to set up Bradford's heroics.

The win was New Haven's first in a regional championship game since 1988 when it defeated Bentley.