SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – All-American Aquillin Hayes (Harlem, N.Y./Wings Academy) scored a career-high 32 points to go along with 10 rebounds, but the nationally-ranked No. 23 University of New Haven women's basketball team fell to California Baptist University 86-77 Tuesday night in the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Championship Elite Eight at the Sanford Pentagon.

With the win, the Lancers improve to 28-8 and will play the winner of the quarterfinal game between Limestone and Lewis. New Haven ends its season at 26-6 overall.

In addition to Hayes efforts, seniors Bria Moore (West Haven, Conn./Hill Regional Career) and Elizabeth Cruso (Westerly, R.I./Westerly) each netted 10 points for the Chargers. Fellow senior Ashley LeBlanc (Methuen, Mass./Methuen) tallied eight points and 10 rebounds.

Darsha Burnside led California Baptist with 27 points and a team-high 16 rebounds. Courtney Nelson added 19 points for the Lancers.

"We made a great run, but just came up short," remarked New Haven head coach, Ty Grace in the postgame press conference. "That's how the game goes sometimes. You try and push and find ways to get it done."

Cal Baptist jumped on top early with a pair of three-pointers to go up 6-0 just 1:14 into the game. New Haven recovered to score six of the next eight points to cut the lead to 8-6 on a layup by Moore at the 16:26 mark. After a Lancers basket, the Chargers took their first lead of the night as a three-pointer by Moore and a layup by LeBlanc gave them a 11-10 lead just more than five-and-a-half minutes into the contest.

From that point neither team held more than a five point lead the remainder of the frame, a mark that New Haven established at 28-23 on a fastbreak layup by Lauren Hebert (North Reading, Mass./North Reading) with 7:36 to go in the half. Cal Baptist rallied, going up 36-34, scoring with 28 seconds left for the tenth lead change of the stanza. New Haven quickly got a bucket on the other end by Moore to knot the game at 36-36, heading into halftime.

In the second half, the Lancers jumped out to a 47-41 lead just less than four minutes into the frame. They kept the Chargers at arm's length for the majority of the half, until the waning moments. With Cal Baptist up 69-61 with 7:06 remaining, New Haven made its last push, going on a 12-6 run, capped by a steal and layup by Hebert at the 3:44 mark, slicing the lead to 75-73. The Lancers recovered, however, as a layup and a three-pointer from Cassidy Mihalko extended the lead back to seven points. They would then hit six-of-eight free throws in the final 1:28 to seal the victory.

The Chargers made the program's ninth overall NCAA and fourth NCAA national quarterfinal appearance this season. Winners of the East Region Championship, New Haven also had the fourth most wins in team history this season with 26 victories.