WEST HAVEN, Conn. – Senior Alexandria Kerr (Montclair, N.J./Montclair) and junior Micah Wormack (Cumberland, Md./Allegany) each scored over 20 points for the New Haven women's basketball team, but the Chargers fell short in a hard-fought 75-67 final against Stonehill on Saturday afternoon.
Kerr notched her seventh double-double of the season with 20 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and four steals. Wormack scored a game-high 23 points on 7-for-11 shooting to go with seven rebounds. Junior Kim Talley (Quakertown, Pa./Lansdale Catholic) totaled eight points and six rebounds on 4-of-6 shooting. Freshman Camryn DeBose (Wellington, Fla./Wellington Community) added six rebounds and Brie Pergola (Torrington, Conn./Torrington) dished out four assists.
The Chargers outrebounded Stonehill 41-31, and held slight advantages in points in the paint (28-26) and points off turnovers (14-13). The Blue and Gold built a 10-point edge thanks to a fast start offensively, before a valiant comeback attempt in the fourth quarter fell just short.
"Our staff is very proud of our team's effort today against a very good Stonehill team," said head coach Deborah Buff. "We came out of the gate very strong and continued to play really well for 40 minutes. We were great on rebounds and shared the ball extremely well, with Micah and Alex playing outstanding on both sides of the ball."
QUARTER 1
· The Chargers came out of the gates sizzling, shooting over 78 percent in the opening 10 minutes by hitting 11 of their first 14 field goals.
· Both teams traded baskets early, with the lead changing hands eight times through the first three-plus minutes.
· DeBose gave the Chargers their first two-point lead with a pair of free throws to go up 11-9 at the 6:27 mark.
· Wormack and Kerr added consecutive layups to make it 15-9, and Kerr finished off a fastbreak bucket following a DeBose steal to extend the New Haven run to 10-0 and take a 18-9 lead just past the midway point of the period.
· The Charger lead grew to a game-high 13 on two different occasions, the first time following a three-pointer from Kerr and layup from Wormack at 1:58, then again at 28-15 following a Kerr free throw less than a minute later.
· A Skyhawk three in the final minute brought the lead down to 28-18 after one quarter. Kerr powered the Chargers to their hot start with 13 points on 5-of-7 from the field in the opening frame.
QUARTER 2
· Stonehill turned on the jets in the second quarter, outscoring the Chargers 23-14.
· Katia Oge (New City, N.Y./Immaculate Heart Academy) built the New Haven lead to 30-18 on the opening possession, and Kerr later added a free throw at 5:35 to rebuild a 12-point, 36-24 cushion.
· Stonehill followed with a strong 17-4 run as the Chargers slipped to a 1-for-8 skid from the floor.
· A 6-0 Skyhawks run got it to 36-30, a three-pointer made it 38-35 at the 2:19 mark, and another three-pointer cut the lead to just two with 1:04 left until halftime.
· An and-one with 26 seconds left gave Stonehill its first lead since early in the game, 41-40.
· Wormack drew a foul underneath with 10 seconds left to get to the free throw line, where she sank both to give the Chargers the lead back, 42-41 heading into the locker room.
New Haven outshot Stonehill 55.6 percent-45.7 percent in the first half.
QUARTER 3
· Stonehill retook the lead in the first minute before Kerr used two free throws to re-knot the game at 44-all just over one minute in.
· The Chargers fell behind three more times over the next six minutes, trailing by no more than three points on each occasion.
· Talley retied the game at 5:26 with a layup, Kerr later tied it at 49-49 with a pull-up jumper after a steal, then Wormack knotted it 51-51 with a trey at the 3:24 mark.
· Stonehill used another extended run, ripping off 11 of the next 14 points to take a 62-54 lead after three quarters.
QUARTER 4
· Tally opened the fourth with a layup to get New Haven within six before Stonehill used a 5-0 stretch to hold its largest lead of the game, 67-56 with 8:29 remaining.
· The Chargers refused to go away, promptly answering with a 7-0 run to trim the deficit to just four with 5:42 left in regulation. A pair of free throws by Oge and DeBose got the run started, then then Pergola and Kerr added consecutive layups to make it 67-63.
· Stonehill put cold water on the rally with three straight baskets in the paint to get the lead back to double digits, 73-63 with 2:48 left.
· Four straight points from Wormack made it a two-possession game with 1:21 remaining, but New Haven was unable to get any closer as Stonehill used a big offensive rebound and a pair of free throws to close out the 75-67 win.
The Chargers will hit the road this coming week with a trip to Franklin Pierce on Wednesday. Tipoff for the cross-divisional matchup is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on NE10 NOW.
