MANCHESTER, N.H. – New Haven's second half defense would prove too much for the Saint Anselm Hawks as the Chargers held the Hawks without a basket over the final 13-plus minutes en route to a 71-52 Northeast-10 Quarterfinal victory. Leading the Chargers was senior guard Lauren Hebert (North Reading, Mass./North Reading) who finished with 29 points and 14 rebounds her second-straight double double and career-highs in both categories.
Joining Hebert in leading the Chargers was classmate Briana Bradford (Waterbury, Conn./Holy Cross) who finished with 14 points and freshman Alexandria Kerr (Montclair, N.J./Montclair) who chipped in 13. Bradford's 14 points continues her season-long streak of recording double figures as she remains the only player in the region to score in double digits in every game.
As a team, New Haven finished the game shooting 44.6 percent from the field, making 25 of their 56 attempts. Leading the way was Hebert who finished with 10 baskets in 19 attempts, while Kerr closed out the contest making 50 percent of her 10 attempts. Bradford led the outside shooting efforts as she made 4-of-6 from beyond the arc.
Hebert's 14 rebounds led all players in the game as the Chargers outrebounded Saint Anselm 42-37. New Haven also finished with six blocks, three each from Hebert and Katia Oge (New City, N.Y./Immaculate Heart Academy). Defensively, the Chargers held Saint Anselm to just 32 percent from the field, including a 14.8 percent stand in the second half. The 32 percent shooting for the Hawks is nearly 10 points below their season average.
New Haven came out of the gates firing on all cylinders, taking an early 12-4 lead over the first five minutes of the game. Hebert opened up the game scoring the first four Chargers points on a jumper and a pair of free throws all within the first 47 seconds.
Following back-to-back buckets from the Hawks, the Chargers rattled off eight-straight to open up their largest lead of the half, 12-4 with 6:02 remaining in the opening quarter. That run was comprised of a layup from India Dotson (Akron, Ohio/Frederick (Md.) / Monmouth University), followed by three-straight buckets from Kerr, including a put back opportunity.
Saint Anselm responded by scoring seven straight to pull within a point, 12-11, before Hebert broke the Hawks momentum with a jump shot at 3:48. Just over 90 seconds later, Khayla Trowell (Temple Hills, Md./Elizabeth Seton Catholic) would regain a five point lead for New Haven, sinking the first UNH three pointer of the afternoon thanks to a feed from Kerr.
Leading by a pair at the first intermission, the Chargers would open up the second quarter with their second three pointer, this time as Kerr connected with Bradford whose first bucket of the afternoon came just 18 seconds into the period.
Saint Anselm would take their first lead of the game thanks to a pair of three pointers which sandwiched a layup from Hebert that put her into double figures. New Haven answered that first deficit with another Hebert bucket. The Chargers would then close out the opening half with back-to-back baskets, holding Saint Anselm scoreless for the final two minutes of the half. Those final two baskets came from Oge and Hebert.
Leading the Chargers at the intermission was Hebert's 14 points, which led all players in the game. Hebert finished the first half making 6-of-10 attempts from the field, while also making two of her three free throw attempts. Kerr finished second overall for the Chargers with eight points on 4-of-7 from the field, while also leading the way with five boards.
Saint Anselm would open the second half scoring eight of the first 10 points to open up its largest lead of the game at 41-38. New Haven responded to that early rally with eight straight and closed out the third quarter on a 14-4 run to take a 52-45 lead into the final intermission. The early part of that run included back-to-back three pointers from Bradford that provided the final lead change of the game.
Hebert would provide the final six points of the quarter for New Haven with a jumper and a pair of perfect trips to the free throw line. Those six points pushed the senior guard over the 20-point plateau for the seventh time this season.
The Chargers continued to keep the pressure on as they opened up the final quarter scoring the first six points to extend their lead to 58-45 with 6:53 remaining. Bradford would again hit from outside as she extended her streak of double figure games to 27, remaining the only player in the region to recorded double digits in every game.
The Blue and Gold's defense down the stretch would prove to be the deciding factor as New Haven held the Hawks to just one field goal over the final 13 plus minutes. The Chargers outscored Saint Anselm 19-7 in the final period to secure its victory.
New Haven advances to the semifinals of the Northeast-10 Championship and will take on the winner between American International and Adelphi. That game will be played at the home court of the highest remaining seed and is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. tip off on Thursday, March 3.
