WEST HAVEN, Conn. – The New Haven women's basketball team outlasted Pace for a key 47-35 win on Wednesday evening at Charger Gymnasium. The victory moves New Haven (15-6, 9-5 NE10) into a tie for third place with Pace (16-7, 9-5 NE10) in the Northeast-10 Southwest Division. Freshman Aurora Deshaies (Syracuse, N.Y./Bishop Ludden) led all scorers with 12 points and added six rebounds. Junior Brie Pergola (Torrington, Conn./Torrington) reached double figures for the fourth straight game with 11 points and four assists, and Bionca Chambers (Bronx, N.Y./New Milford) scored nine points and added four rebounds and two steals. Senior Micah Wormack (Cumberland, Md./Allegany) led the Chargers with nine rebounds, while adding two steals and two blocks.

Holding the seventh-best scoring defense in the nation, the 35 points is the fewest allowed by New Haven this season, and the 10th time they've held their opponent to under 50 points. New Haven limited Pace to just 25.5 percent shooting from the floor and 10.5 percent from three-point range. The Chargers outscored the Setters 28-16 in the paint and the Chargers' bench outscored the Pace reserves 21-0.

QUOTES FROM THE COACH: Debbie Buff
"It's really great to get our 15th win. Our defense was outstanding. It was a very physical game and I thought we responded well in the second half. Our bench stepped up and was key with 21 points and we were great from the foul line hitting 10-of-12. We continued to protect our home court and are 10-1 here this year which is tremendous."
 
FIRST QUARTER

• Pergola scored seven of the Chargers nine points in the opening quarter, including a three-pointer to go up 5-0 and a putback to go up 9-5 at the 1:48 mark.
• Deshaies scored the team's last four points of the period with two layups, the second of which was a putback bucket right at the horn to push the New Haven edge to 13-10 after one.

SECOND QUARTER

• The Chargers built the lead to five on three occasions over the first four minutes of the second before growing the edge to seven on a fastbreak jumper from Wormack at the 5:40 mark.
• The Chargers were held scoreless for the rest of the half as Pace scored the final seven points of the frame to tie the score 21-21 going into halftime.

THIRD QUARTER

• Pace extended the run to 9-0 coming out of the locker room and took their only lead of the game, 23-21.
• Wormack ended New Haven's scoring drought of 8:38 with a jumper, and Jasmine White (Huntington, N.Y./St. Anthony's) put New Haven back up on the next possession with a jumper.
• DeBose drilled a three-pointer, then Chambers scored the last four points of the quarter with a free throw and a triple to give New Haven a 32-27 lead.

FOURTH QUARTER

• Chambers continued to lead the offense, scoring the first three points of the fourth to help New Haven take a 35-29 lead. Deshaies followed with two layups over the next two-plus minutes to grow the lead to 10 for the first time, 41-31 with 3:50 to go.
• DeBose used two free throws to get the lead to double digits once more with 2:28 to play, and Pergola capped the Chargers scoring with four free throws in as many attempts over the final 1:28 to help pull away for the 12-point win.

New Haven will hit the road on Saturday afternoon for a key NE10 Southwest Division matchup at Le Moyne. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. on NE10 NOW.