WEST HAVEN, Conn. – Alexandria Kerr (Montclair, N.J./Montclair) netted a career-high 23 points as the University of New Haven women's basketball team won its third consecutive game, downing the Saint Michael's Purple Knights 63-35 in a Northeast-10 Conference contest on Tuesday night. The Chargers are now 5-13 overall and 4-9 in the NE10.
"Our defensive energy was fantastic again tonight. Minus a few mental errors and a couple of missed box outs, it was a stellar defensive performance," said head coach LaTonya Watson. "When we can play defense that way, we will always give ourselves a chance to win."
New Haven led wire-to-wire, scoring the first basket of the game 19 seconds into the contest and never relinquished the lead. The tone was set early in the first half as the Chargers held the Purple Knights to 23.5 percent shooting and just 20 points in the opening two periods. Leading 11-6 with four minutes to go in the first quarter, the Blue and Gold went on a 12-3 run to end the frame and open the second, taking a 23-9 lead. The Saint Michael's offense woke up a bit in the latter stages of the half, cutting the edge to 29-20 at the break.
After the Purple Knights scored the first basket of the third period, New Haven went on a 13-2 run fueled by Alexandria Kerr (Montclair, N.J./Montclair) and Allieyah Cubbage (North Plainfield, N.J./Roselle Catholic) as the guard tandem scored all of the points in the run as the Chargers took a 42-24 lead on a pair of Kerr free throws with 6:05 left in the frame. The Blue and Gold continued to push the lead through the end of the game, outscoring Saint Michael's 21-6 in the third and 13-9 in the fourth.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Kerr had her third 20+ point game of the season, all of them coming since the turn of the calendar year. She also had 11 rebounds for her seventh double-double of the season.
- Cubbage also had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. It is the first time that New Haven had two players with a double-double in the same game since Jan. 26, 2016, also against Saint Michael's.
- Micah Wormack (Cumberland, Md./Allegany) netted her second double-figure scoring game of the season, tallying 12. She also had two blocks, giving her 38 for the season, moving into 10th place on the New Haven single-season blocked shot list.
- The Chargers shot a season-high 48.3 percent from the field. They also pulled in 50+ rebounds for the second consecutive game and third time this season.
FIRST QUARTER NOTES
- New Haven shot a blistering 62.5 percent (10-for-16) from the field in the opening period, their second-best shooting quarter of the season.
- Leading 11-6, the Chargers went on a 10-3 run to end the frame, shooting 5-for-6 with Wormack scoring four of the points in the spurt.
- Kerr led the Blue and Gold with seven points in the period, adding five rebounds.
SECOND QUARTER NOTES
- New Haven scored the opening basket of the period before the Purple Knights went on an 8-4 run to cut the lead into single digits at 27-19.
- Wormack equaled her first period output with four points and also contributed a block.
THIRD QUARTER NOTES
- After Saint Michael's netted the initial bucket of the quarter, the Chargers finished the period on a 21-4 run, connecting on 61.5 percent of their shots from the floor while holding the Purple Knights to 1-for-10. Kerr scored nine points and Cubbage tallied six during the span.
- Oluwaseun Shittu (Johnston, R.I./Saint Raphael Academy) netted her second bucket of the night, tying her career high with four points.
- New Haven shot 8-for-14 in the period.
FOURTH QUARTER NOTES
- The Blue and Gold pushed the lead to 28 points on three different occasions in the quarter, its largest lead in an NE10 game this season.
- 11 of 12 active New Haven players saw action in the period.
UP NEXT
The Chargers head to Manchester, N.H. for the first of back-to-back road games when they take on Saint Anselm on Saturday, Jan. 28. Tipoff from Stoughtenburgh Gym is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
