BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – With the score knotted at 74 with 17.9 seconds remaining, senior point guard Kameryn King (Old Saybrook, Conn./Mercy) brought the ball over the timeline, faked right, drove down the center of the lane and snuck a layup over the front of the rim with 1.2 seconds remaining to secure a 76-74 road win over the University of Bridgeport Purple Knights.

The win for the Chargers is the first road victory of the season for the Blue and Gold who improve to 5-2 on the season. Leading the visiting team on the night was senior forward Aurora Deshaies (Syracuse, N.Y./Bishop Ludden) who compiled her fifth double double of the season with 22 points and 13 rebounds. She was one of three players in double figures, joined by King and senior Briana Van Cleaf (Staten Island, N.Y./Notre Dame Academy) who finished with 12 and 14 points, respectively.

As a team, New Haven finished the night shooting an even 50 percent from the field (29-of-58) with seven of those 29 buckets from outside the long-range line. The seven three pointers all came in the first half as they shot 7-of-9 from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes of action. The Chargers also added 11 points at the free throw line, finishing 11-of-17, led by King who was a perfect 4-of-4. King also led the team with six assists, while graduate student Camryn DeBose (Wellington, Fla./Wellington Community) finished with five. As a team, New Haven dished out 18 assists on 29 field goals.

Defensively, New Haven forced the Purple Knights into 16 turnovers, registering 10 steals with DeBose and graduate transfer Leighanna Lister (Kutztown, Pa./Northwestern Lehigh) leading the team with three each. New Haven would turn those 16 turnovers into 15 points, while leading both team with a 40-28 advantage in the paint.

FIRST QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

·        After both teams were held scoreless for the first 74 seconds, Marigona Bacaliu (Worcester, Mass./Putnam Science Academy) broke the scoreless contest with the first three pointer of the night thanks to a feed from DeBose.

·        A jumper from Deshaies would make it an early 5-0 lead for the Chargers before the home team managed their first points with 7:57 remaining in the quarter on a layup from Brianna Meekins.

·        After allowing the Purple Knights to take their first lead of the night a few minutes later, the Chargers barrage of three pointers would kick in with two of those coming off the bench from Gabrielle Stickle (Syracuse, N.Y./Jamesville-DeWitt). The second from Stickle came with nine seconds remaining and provided the final margin of the quarter, 24-15.

SECOND HALF HIGHLIGHTS

·        After trading the first two points of the second quarter, New Haven saw its first double digit lead of the night come thanks to back-to-back buckets from Lister and Deshaies that provided a 28-17 margin.

·        The Purple Knights responded to that deficit by scoring back-to-back buckets, the second a three pointer, for a 5-0 rally, while defensively holding the Chargers without a bucket for a three minute stretch.

·        New Haven regained the double figure lead with 5:17 remaining in the half thanks to a Van Cleaf jumper and saw its largest lead of the half come with 72 seconds remaining when DeBose drilled a three pointer after pulling down the board on the other end.

·        Bridgeport notched the final bucket of the half, a three pointer, as New Haven took a 44-32 lead into the intermission. Leading the way for New Haven was Van Cleaf with nine points, while eight players all scored at least two points in the first 20 minutes.

THIRD QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

·        New Haven would score first in the second half. After a missed attempt by the Purple Knights, Bacaliu dropped the first bucket of the third quarter on a layup in the paint.

·        Bridgeport was only able to get as close as 10 in the third quarter, with that margin coming with 6:36 remaining thanks in part to a pair of three pointers.

·        New Haven would answer with an and-one from Van Cleaf, which sparked a 9-0 run that led to the largest lead of the game, 59-40 with under two minutes remaining in the third quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

·        Trailing by 16 points at the start of the fourth quarter, the Purple Knights began a nearly impossible rally that included 14 unanswered points in the first 2:58 of the quarter to pull within a pair. They would go on to knot the score at 62 with 6:35 remaining, with New Haven regaining a slim, one point, lead at 6:04 with a free throw from Deshaies.

·        Bridgeport didn't stop there, they would go on to take their first lead since the first quarter, extending their quarter opening rally to 23-2 which led to a five-point lead with 5:07 remaining.

·        The Purple Knights would match that advantage twice more, the last time with 2:19 remaining at 73-68. New Haven would go on to score eight of the final nine points to earn the victory.

·        Trailing by five with just over two minutes remaining, the Chargers used back-to-back buckets from Debose and Deshaies to pull within one and then completed a 6-0 run with another jumper from Deshaies off a feed from King which provided a 74-73 lead.

·        A single free throw, after missing the first, from Mackenzie Creighton with 16 seconds remaining knotted the score at 74 as the Chargers called for time to set up the final play of the game.

·        Taking the inbound, King would work one-on-one with her defender, moving from bench side to the center of the court where she drove straight down the lane and calmly sunk the game-winning bucket with 1.2 seconds remaining. Bridgeport wasn't able to get a last second shot off as the horn sounded and New Haven walked away with the victory.