GAME DAY INFORMATION DATE: January 15, 2022 LOCATION: Charger Gymnasium, West Haven, Conn. GAME DAY LINKS LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

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OPENING TIP
The University of New Haven dropped their sixth game of the season, a 61-66 loss to Chestnut Hil on Dec. 19, for their first loss in non-conference play. The squad returns home after seeing a 27 day hiatus from the court, as they host the visiting Stonehill Skyhawks at Charger Gymnasium on Saturday, Jan. 15 at 1:30 PM, in search of their first conference win on the year.

INSIDE THE SERIES
History has been in favor of the Skyhawks when these two programs meet, as Stonehill holds a 27-9 lead over the Chargers, however, when hosting the Skyhawks the Chargers trail just 6-14. The last time the Chargers played the Skyhawks, it resulted in a 45-63 loss for New Haven on Jan. 18 2020. 

SCOUTING THE CHARGERS
Saturday's game will mark 27 days since the Charger's last took the court in a 61-66 loss to the Chestnut Hill Griffins in a closely contested battle.

The Chargers enter this weekend's matchup against the Stonehill Skyhawks still looking for their first NE10 victory of the 2021-22 season.

After three postponements and a holiday break, the Chargers will return back to Charger Gymnasium after splitting a pair of non-conference games.

In their last time out, New Haven came out of the gate swinging, going into halftime with a 32-28 lead. However, a strong second-half by Chestnut Hill put the game just out of reach.
 
Ultimately, the effort fell short as the Chargers were outscored 38-29 in the second half, leading the Chargers to drop their fourth and final game of December, in what was a month to forget for New Haven.

The Chargers shot 21-56 (37.5%) from the field during the game while going seven of 15 from the perimeter (46.7%). Chestnut Hill ended the game shooting 18-56 (32.1%) but went 8-22 (36.4%) from the arc. For the first time this season, the Chargers were handed their first loss despite shooting a higher field goal percentage.

The difference-maker came to be free throws as the Griffins ended the game a near perfect 22-23 (85.7%) from the line while the Chargers only went 12-17 (70.6%).

Despite a season-low in points, senior Camryn DeBose (Wellington, Fla./Wellington Community) was able to sneak an 11 point effort to continue her now 11 game streak of reaching double-digit points.

The star of the Charger's offense in this game, however, was junior forward Briana Van Cleaf (Staten Island, N.Y./Notre Dame Academy) who set a new career-high of 19 points off 7-11 shooting while going 4-6 from three to keep the game close.

Fellow junior forward Aurora Deshaies (Syracuse, N.Y./Bishop Ludden) continued to dominate down low, finishing with a 14 point-11 rebound double-double, her second-straight and fourth of the season. Deshaies has now reached 11+ rebounds in each of the last six games as she ranks third in the NE10 with 11.4 average rebounds.

Brie Pergola (Torrington, Conn./Torrington) struggled to get her shot going in her last game but she was able to contribute to the team's effort with five rebounds and five assists. Pergola is now 11th in the conference with 3.2 assists per game.

Luzdali Ocasio (Davenport, Fla./New Hampton) made her second-straight and third overall start of the season, finishing with 2-8 shooting, predominantly from long range, to finish with seven points.

The Chargers were outrebounded for the first time in five games, but have outrebounded their opponents 445-422 on the season. New Haven forced 20 turnovers in the loss, turning those into 21 points on the other end. The Chargers only scored six points on second chance opportunities and were outscored on the fastbreak, 15-10.

SCOUTING THE SKYHAWKS
The Stonehill Skyhawks enter the matchup 3-5 on the season and 2-4 during conference play. The Skyhawks are currently on a one-game win streak after picking up a 62-51 win over the Adelphi Panthers.

On offense, Stonehill is led by senior guard Emily Bramanti, who averages 17.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game.Bramanti ranks top-5 in the conference in points and assists while placing 18th in rebounds.

Bramanti is coming off a 14 point-11 rebound double-double in the team's last time out but it was senior forward Kayla Raymond who led the Skyhawks in points with 16 point-11rebound double-double. Raymond is second on Stonehill in points per game with 13.9. Bramanti has shot 42.2 percent from the field and 29.9 percent from three-point range while Raymond has shot 34.7 percent and 25.5 percent from beyond the arc.

The Skyhawks have only seen seven players start at least one game this season with the most recent lineup being Bramanti, Raymond, Mia Kelly, Isabella Santoro, and Sophie Glidden. Senior guard Santoro also averages double-digit points for Stonehill, averaging 10.7 points.

On defense, Stonehill averages 5.1 steals and a conference-leading 6.1 blocks. The Skyhawks have three players with 8+ steals on the year and two with 14+ blocks. Raymond has totaled nine steals and 14 blocks on the season while Hill leads the conference with 2.1 blocks per game, or 19 total.

Stonehill ranks 8th in the NE10 with an average of 63.8 points per game, while shooting an 8th best 37.9 percent from the field. The Skyhawks allow a NE10 second-most 65 points per game to their opponent on 31 percent shooting. As a whole, they rank third in the conference, averaging 43.2 rebounds for a +5.4 margin.

Stonehill boasts a relatively small and diverse roster comprised of eight guards and five forwards. The class makeup is divided into three freshmen, two sophomores, three juniors, and five seniors.

The Skyhawks are led by head coach Trisha Brown, who entered into her 21st season as head coach of the women's basketball program at Stonehill College. In her first year, Coach Brown has established herself as one of the premier coaches in the region and currently ranks 30th among active coaches in Division II with a .687 winning percentage (387-176), having led Stonehill to ten NCAA tournament appearances.

NEXT UP
The Chargers will stay home as they take on the Adelphi Panthers at Charger Gymnasium after the initial game was postponed. Tip-off for that game is scheduled for 1:00 on January 17.