GAME DAY INFORMATION DATE: December 7, 2021 LOCATION: Charger Gymnasium, West Haven, Conn. GAME DAY LINKS LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

NEWS NEWS ROSTER ROSTER SCHEDULE SCHEDULE STATS STATS GAME NOTES

OPENING TIP
The Chargers fell to 4-4 on the year after dropping a 58-54 loss to Saint Rose on Saturday for their second consecutive loss to conference opponents. The squad will briefly return home to host the American International Yellow Jackets on Tuesday, Dec. 7 at Charger Gymnasium at 5:30 PM.

INSIDE THE SERIES
In a tightly contested series, the Chargers have the edge between the two. New Haven holds a 22-20 all-time record against the Yellow Jackets of AIC. The Chargers will also enter the matchup looking to extend their win streak over AIC to seven. The last time these two met was Feb. 15, 2020 which resulted in a 60-46 win for New Haven.

SCOUTING THE CHARGERS
The Chargers enter Saturday's matchup against the Saint Rose Golden Knights, still looking to pick up their first The Chargers enter Tuesday's matchup against the American International Yellow Jackets, still looking to pick up their first conference win of the season.

The squad returns home, briefly, after spending the past two games on the road, where they saw losses to NE10 rivals, Southern Connecticut State and Saint Rose.

After falling behind 8-2 in the first quarter against Saint Rose, New Haven found themselves in a 14 point deficit before getting within three points after a three-pointer by Bionca Chambers (Bronx, N.Y./New Milford) with 1:30 left in the game.

Ultimately, the comeback effort fell short as the Chargers dropped their second game during the month of December.

The Chargers shot 3-13 (23.1%) from the field to open the game before finishing 19-58 (32.8%), including 5-14 (35.7%) from the perimeter.

Saint Rose entered halftime shooting 15-29 (51.7%) but were held to just 5-26 (19.2%) in the second half while making only one of nine three-pointers. So far this season, the Chargers have been outscored 271-239 in the first half while outscoring opponents 234-224 in the second. 

DeBose continues to lead the Chargers, finishing the game with 17 points on 50 percent shooting while recording eight rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal. Chambers also shot 50 percent from the field, scoring 11 points off the bench.

Brie Pergola (Torrington, Conn./Torrington) was held to one made field goal, a three-pointer late in the fourth, but converted all six attempted free throws. Held to zero assists for the first time this year, Pergola is still tied for 12th in the conference with 2.9 assists per game.

Aurora Deshaies (Syracuse, N.Y./Bishop Ludden) was kept quiet on the scoreboard but racked up 11 rebounds, keeping her season average at a conference fourth-best 11.4. Deshaies fell to second in the NE10 with a current 54.3 field goal percentage on the season.
 
Luzdali Ocasio (Davenport, Fla./New Hampton) made her first start of the season, tallying three points, two assists, a rebound and a steal.

Junior forward Alyssa Stevenson (Watertown, N.Y./South Jefferson Central) saw 24 minutes of action, finishing the game with five points and eight rebounds, four of which were offensive.
 
The Chargers are starting to find their groove in the paint, outrebounding their past three opponents, 129-98, in that span. 

New Haven forced 18 turnovers in the loss, turning those into 20 points on the other end. The Chargers also scored 18 points on second chance opportunities but were outscored on the fastbreak, 2-0.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS
The Yellow Jackets enter the matchup 4-3 on the season and 1-2 during conference play, as they ride a two-game win streak after defeating NE10 rival Adelphi, 68-66, and non-conference opponent Molloy College, 52-48, over the weekend.

On offense, American International is led by graduate guard Destine Perry, who averages 12.3 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. Perry is also 14-34 from beyond the arc, this season for a conference fifth-best 41.2 percent. Kyla Smith and Kayla Robinson average 9 points and 9.6 points, respectively.

The Yellow Jackets have seen seven players start at least two games this season with the most recent lineup being Perry, Smith, Nora Young, Julia Carbonell Munoz and Rosa Vreugd.

On defense, American International averages 7.1 steals and 3.0 blocks per game.The Yellow Jackets have three players with 10+ steals on the year, with Carbonell Munoz leading the team with 11. Young is the Yellow Jacket's lead shot blocker, with six on the season while Carbonell Munoz and Sara Guntin Barreiro have five a piece.

American International ranks 11th in the conference with an average of 59.4 points per game, while shooting a tenth best 37.4 percent from the field. The Yellow Jackets allow an average of 61.1 points per game to their opponent on 36.1 percent shooting. As a whole, they rank 14th in the conference, averaging 32.9 rebounds for a -8.6 margin.

AIC boasts a relatively young roster comprised of 10 guards and four forwards. The class makeup is divided into three freshmen, four sophomores, three juniors, and four graduate students.

Kristen Hutchinson was named the fifth head coach of the AIC women's basketball program on June 14, 2007 and is currently the second-winningest head coach in program history.

The team's win on March 5, 2021 over Franklin Pierce University marked her 400th career victory as a member of the women's basketball team between being a player, assistant coach, and head coach.
 
Under Hutchison, the team has reached the NE10 Championship Tournament in 12 of her 13 seasons, including back-to-back trips to the NE10 Championship Game in 2014-15 and 2015-16. She has never had consecutive sub-.500 seasons either overall or in conference play. Hutchinson enters the matchup with a 219-173 record  (147-131 NE10).

NEXT UP
The Chargers will take a break from conference play as they head to New Jersey to take on the Bloomfield Bears again in a rematch of the season-opener in which the Chargers won 63-37. Tip off for that game is scheduled for 5:30 PM at Bloomfield College Gym on Friday, Dec. 17.