MANCHESTER, N.H. – Junior Micah Wormack (Cumberland, Md./Allegany) tied her career-high with 18 points and added 13 rebounds and a career-high five steals to lead the University of New Haven women's basketball team past Saint Anselm 63-59 on Wednesday. Senior Alexandria Kerr (Montclair, N.J./Montclair) recorded her third straight double-double with 15 points, 11 rebounds and a game-high six assists. Sophomore Brie Pergola (Torrington, Conn./Torrington) was key down the stretch for New Haven, connecting on eight of her nine free throws to finish with 14 points. Freshman Camryn DeBose (Wellington, Fla./Wellington Community) shot 4-of-8 from the floor and scored eight points, as the Chargers outscored the Hawks 50-18 in the paint and won the rebounding battle 37-36.

New Haven (11-4, 4-3 NE10) shot 49.1 percent from the floor and held Saint Anselm (10-3, 5-3 NE10) to an even 35 percent shooting.

"I think this is a big win for us," said head coach Deborah Buff. "Saint Anselm is a very good basketball team sitting atop their division. I thought we really followed the game plan and shared the ball. I thought everybody was together from top to bottom. Micah was stellar and Alex Kerr did a great job rebounding, scoring and assisting. I said before the game that this was going to be a test to see what we had, and I'm just really excited for them. The energy and effort from top to bottom was outstanding."

QUARTER 1

·         DeBose put New Haven up early with a layup, then found Wormack down low for two to put the Chargers up 4-0.

·         Wormack got off to a 3-for-3 start with a pair of steals, as she put in another left-handed layup to make it 8-1 at the 6:46 mark.

·         A 7-2 run got Saint Anselm within 10-8 before DeBose got the lead back to four with a layup.

·         After the Hawks took their first lead, 13-12 off a three-pointer with just over one-minute remaining, Kerr grabbed a steal near midcourt with 23 seconds left and took it to the rim herself for two, giving New Haven a 14-13 lead after one.

QUARTER 2

·         Kerr found Katia Oge (New City, N.Y./Immaculate Heart Academy) coming down the lane, then found her again on the following possession in transition to up New Haven's run to 6-0 and making it 20-15 at the 7:03 mark.

·         Kerr drove the baseline for a reverse layup, and Wormack added two layups of her own to answer a Hawks' three-pointer to grow the lead to a half-high eight points, 26-18, at the 3:04 mark.

·         After another Saint Anselm triple, Pergola drew a foul to get to the line, and hit both attempts to bring the New Haven lead to 28-21 with 59 seconds left, a lead New Haven carried into the break.

After shooting 6-for-12 in the second quarter, the Chargers finished the first half at 48.1 percent from the floor, holding Saint Anselm to 29.6 percent shooting. Twenty-six of New Haven's 28 points in the opening half came in the paint.

QUARTER 3

·         Saint Anselm rattled off four early points to answer a Kerr layup, forcing a New Haven timeout at 6:46 with the Chargers leading 30-25.

·         Wormack spun to her left and banked one in high off the glass following the timeout, and Kerr put in a reverse layup to quickly get the lead back to eight, 34-26 at 5:46.

·         Kerr found Wormack down low for a layup, and drew the foul to break a 5-0 Hawks' run. Kerr capitalized with a rebound and layup off the ensuing missed free throw to make it 38-31.

·         After Saint Anselm got within four in the closing seconds, Kerr sprinted the ball up court and banked it in off the glass and in from 40 feet out to beat the buzzer and send New Haven into the fourth with a 45-38 lead.

QUARTER 4

·         Wormack opened the scoring with a basket on the first possession, and Pergola completed the three-point play with the hoop and a foul to grow the edge to double digits for the first time at 50-40 with 8:09 to play.

·         The Hawks responded with five straight points to force a New Haven timeout with 6:58 to go.

·         DeBose broke the 6-0 Hawks run with a big offensive board and putback at 5:25 to make it 52-46.

·         Wormack used a big putback bucket to make it 56-48, then Tally put in a short jumper in the lane off the feed from Kerr to get the lead back to 10, forcing a Saint Anselm time out with 1:24 left.

·         Saint Anselm closed the game on an 11-5 run thanks in part to a trio of threes while sending New Haven to the line, but it was not enough as Pergola sank four from the line to help the Chargers hold on for the four-point win.

The Chargers will return home this Saturday as part of an afternoon doubleheader against Assumption at Charger Gymnasium. Tipoff for the women's game is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on NE10 NOW.