BOX SCORE WEST HAVEN, CONN. – The New Haven women's basketball team picked up their fourth win of the season in a 56-43 victory over the Saint Thomas Aquinas Spartans on Sunday to break a two game skid. Brie Pergola (Torrington, Conn./Torrington) was lights out for the Chargers, leading the team with 18 points on 6-13 shooting, including 3-6 from beyond the arc. Pergola added four rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal to her stat line in the winning effort, as well. Camryn DeBose (Wellington, Fla./Wellington Community) put up 13 points in game to bring her season average to 16.2 points per game, which ranks sixth most amongst scorers in the NE10. New Haven cleaned the boards in a major way, outrebounding the Spartans, 47-29. Junior forwards Aurora Deshaies (Syracuse, N.Y./Bishop Ludden) and Briana Van Cleaf (Staten Island, N.Y./Notre Dame Academy) nearly achieved double-doubles as they each reached double-digit rebounds. Deshaies finished the game with eight points and 12 rebounds while Van Cleaf ended with nine points and eleven boards. Deshaies ranks fifth in the conference with 11.2 rebounds per game while Van Cleaf is tied for 11th, averaging 7.5 rebounds.

The Spartans were held to 18-53 (34%) shooting, with a low of 3-13 (23.1%) in the third quarter. Saint Thomas Aquinas also went 6-19 (31.6%) from the three while also attempting one free throw in the entire game. The 43 points allowed by the Chargers is the second-lowest allowed so far this season, second only to the season opening 63-37 win over the Bloomfield Bears. New Haven forced the Spartans into 12 turnovers, while totaling four blocks and four steals. Leading the defensive effort was senior guard DeBose, who tallied two blocks to tie a career-high, last achieved on Feb. 1. 2020 against Franklin Pierce.

As a whole, the squad shot 20-55 (36.4%) from the field, while going 4-17 (23.5%) from beyond the arc. In a game were their was eight lead changes, free throws were vital as the Chargers went 12-22 (54.5%) from the line as opposed to Saint Thomas Aquinas' 1-1. Ten of New Haven's points came off turnovers while 18 came on second chance opportunities. The Chargers dominated the post, outscoring the Spartans 26-16 from inside the paint.

QUOTE FROM BUFF
"Today, we had pride on defense and played with discipline on offense," said head coach Debbie Buff. "We out-rebounded a good rebounding team and played the hardest together as a team. We need to build on that. I'm proud of our energy and grit that we showed throughout the game."

FIRST HALF

• DeBose lead the Chargers in the first half with six points while also adding a rebound and an assist.
• Pergola tallied five points and two rebounds in the half.
• Three of Pergola's first half points came with .02 seconds left in the first quarter on an and-1 jumper on an offensive rebound.
• Deshaies led the team with seven boards while Van Cleaf pulled downed four.
• Junior Forward Alyssa Stevenson (Watertown, N.Y./South Jefferson Central) logged four minutes in the game, pulling down two rebounds
• The first half saw a total of seven scorers for the Chargers, including Lyrik Jackson (Syracuse, N.Y./Syracuse Academy of Science) who ended with three points.
• Jackson connected on the and-1 jumper with 2:37 left in the first quarter.
• Kameryn King (Old Saybrook, Conn./Mercy) scored on a layup after pulling down an offensive rebound with 2:20 left in the second quarter.
• DeBose ended the half with two blocks while Van Cleaf tallied one.
• The Spartans were held to 4-16 (25%) shooting in the first quarter but bounced back to shoot 8-14 (57%) in the second.
• Saint Thomas Aquinas shot 5-6 from the arc in the second quarter after starting off 0-4.
• The Chargers ended the half shooting 11-25 (44%), while scoring 16 points in the paint.
• The Spartans led at the half, 30-25, after outscoring the Chargers, 21-11, in the second quarter.

SECOND HALF

• Pergola took over in the second half, scoring 13 points, including three three-pointers.
• Pergola filled out the rest of the stat sheet with two rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block.
• DeBose racked up seven points and six rebounds.
• Deshaies tallied six points and five rebounds while Van Cleaf put up five points and seven rebounds.
• Deshaies also assisted on a Pergola three with 6:16 in the third quarter to regain the lead for the Chargers.
• New Haven pulled down 23 rebounds in the half, while outscoring the Spartans 10-8 in the paint.
• 13 of the Charger's second half points came from second chance opportunities. 
• New Haven scored seven points off of turnovers in the second half, compared to three by the Spartans.
• A pair of free throws by DeBose with less than two minutes in the game gave the Chargers a 17 point lead and their largest of the night.
• The Charger's defense came up big in the second half holding the Spartans to 6-23 (26%) shooting, including 1-9 (11.1%) from beyond the arc.
• New Haven shot 6-16 (37.5%) in the third quarter and 9-28 (32.1%) in the half, while going 4-9 (44.4%) from three.
• In the fourth quarter, the Chargers went 8-13 (61.5%) from the line.

WHAT'S NEXT
The Chargers will head back on the road but won't be far, as they return to Moore Field House, where they played their season opener, to take on the Owls of Southern Connecticut State in the battle of the Elm City. Tip off for that game is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec 1 at 5:30 PM.