COLCHESTER, Vt. – Senior point guard Kameryn King (Old Saybrook, Conn./Mercy) finished with a season-high 18 points as the New Haven women's basketball team picked up its first road win in NE10 play on Saturday afternoon 55-44 against Saint Michael's. With the win, the Chargers improve to 6-2 overall and 3-2 in conference action.

Overall, King was one of three players to score in double digits, joined by graduate student Camryn Debose and senior Marigona Bacaliu (Worcester, Mass./Putnam Science Academy) who finished with 13 and 10 points, respectively. Of all the leading scorers, King had the hottest hand of the day with her 18 points coming on 7-of-12 from the field, including a pair of three pointers and two more points at the free throw line.

"We played stellar defense in the second half and played great down the stretch," said head coach Deborah Buff. "Leighanna [Lister] gave us great minutes off the bench with seven rebounds and Mari [Bacaliu] gave us great energy on defense."

Lister's seven rebounds led the Chargers as they finished with 36 total, one shy of the Purple Knights. Joining her in leading the way was DeBose with six. In addition to her 10 points, Bacaliu led the team with four steals, while her team forced 15 turnovers and turned those Saint Michael's mistakes into 20 points.

As a team, New Haven finished the day shooting 33.9 percent from the field going 19-of-56 overall, including seven three pointers, one shy of the season-high. The Chargers were also 10-of-15 at free throw line, while holding Saint Michael's to 31.4 percent shooting (16-of-51).

FIRST QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

·        Both teams opened up the game with a three pointer, the Purple Knights scoring first and New Haven netting their first bucket over two minutes into the action with Bacaliu hitting the jump shot off a Saint Michael's turnover.

·        All of the Chargers first quarter field goals came from beyond the three point arc with DeBose and Van Cleaf each adding a long range bucket.

·        After Van Cleaf hit the third bucket for the Blue and Gold, the Purple Knights closed out the first quarter scoring the final nine points in the period to take a 14-9 lead into the intermission.

SECOND QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

·        After being held scoreless for the final 6:15 of the first quarter, New Haven would strike first in the second quarter with a layup from King just 12 seconds into the action.

·        King would also score New Haven's second bucket of the period, while a three pointer from Gabrielle Stickle (Syracuse, N.Y./Jamesville-DeWitt) would pull the Chargers within a pair with 6:12 remaining.

·        From that point, the Saint Michael's defense again stepped up, holding the Chargers to just a single free throw for the next six minutes, as they built a double digit lead at 28-17.

·        King would then end the quarter the way she started it with a jump shot in the paint that provided a 28-19 margin at the break.

THIRD QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

·        After being held to just 25 percent shooting in the first half, the Chargers would open up the second half scoring their first three field goals. The first of the half came from Deshaies with Bacaliu setting up the play with a steal on the other end.

·        About three minutes later, King would strike again, this time a three pointer off a Saint Michael's turnovers that knotted the game at 30.

·        That three pointer was part of a three-minute stretch that equaled a 13-0 rally and resulted in a four-point lead at 34-30.

·        The Purple Knights would muster one more lead in the quarter at 37-35 with 1:10 remaining before the Chargers closed out the third with a layup from King that knotted the score at 37.

FOURTH QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

·        King started the fourth quarter the same way she ended the third, this time her bucket a three pointer that put the lead in favor of New Haven, which it would stay the remainder of the game.

·        New Haven would go on to open up the quarter scoring 12 of the first 14 points to take their first double digit lead at 49-39 with under five minutes remaining.

·        Saint Michael's wasn't able to pull any closer than seven points over the final five minutes, with New Haven closing out the game with its largest lead coming with 44 seconds remaining on a pair of free throws from King.

·        Overall, New Haven would close out the game going 4-of-4 at the line to ice the victory and return from the Green Mountain State with the victory.