WALTHAM, Mass. – Senior Aurora Deshaies (Syracuse, N.Y./Bishop Ludden) stood strong under the hoop, recovering an offensive rebound and putting the shot right back up for the tip-in with .03 seconds remaining to secure the Chargers second-straight win, defeating the Northeast-10 Conference leading Bentley Falcons 51-49. With the win, New Haven improves to 8-7 overall and 5-6 in league play.

The Chargers defense was its best of the season, holding a Bentley team that averages 14 points more than their opponents to a season-low 49 points and limiting the Falcons leading scorers, who combined average more than 30 points, to just 16 points combined. Leading the Falcons on the night was Julia Elie who came off the bench to score eight points.

"This was a huge win against a great Bentley team," said head coach Debbie Buff. "Our team really locked into the scout and played unreal defense. Out three veterans in Ro [Aurora Deshaies (Syracuse, N.Y./Bishop Ludden)], Cam [Camryn DeBose (Wellington, Fla./Wellington Community)] and Kam [Kameryn King (Old Saybrook, Conn./Mercy)] stepped up and made big plays down the stretch. Our bench was engaged the whole game and brought energy throughout the entire 40 minutes. Our staff is super proud!"

Deshaies was one of two Chargers to finish in double figures, with that game-winning putback netting her 10 points as she finished the night 5-of-12 form the field. She also finished one rebound shy of securing another double double, closing out the game with nine, as the Chargers finished the night with a 38-30 advantage on the boards. Leighanna Lister (Kutztown, Pa./Northwestern Lehigh) joined Deshaies in leading the rebounding efforts, securing eight boards.  

Joining Deshaies in leading the Blue and Gold was graduate guard Camryn DeBose (Wellington, Fla./Wellington Community) who chipped in a game-high 15, closing out the night 6-of-16 from the field with a trio of three pointers. She also added five rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals. Senior point guard Kameryn King (Old Saybrook, Conn./Mercy) finished a point shy of reaching double digits, going 4-of-7 from the field for nine points, while freshman Lindsay Hogan (Bayville, N.Y./Locust Valley) closed out the night with six points on a pair of three point field goals.

As a team, New Haven finished the game shooting 42 percent from the field, making 21-of-50 field goal attempts. Six of those buckets came from outside the arc, with DeBose leading the way with half of those threes.

FIRST QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

·        New Haven's defense came out of the gates with the intensity it needed, holding Bentley without a field goal for more than four minutes, while scoring the first six points of the game to take the early lead. All six points came from different players.

·        After Bentley picked up its first points of the night, DeBose responded by sinking the first three pointer of the game to extend the Chargers lead to seven, its largest of the quarter.

·        New Haven wouldn't relinquish its lead throughout the first 10 minutes, taking an 11-7 lead into the first intermission.

·        After taking that seven point lead on DeBose's three pointer, the Falcons responded by scoring five straight to cut the lead down to two before Alyssa Stevenson (Watertown, N.Y./South Jefferson Central) closed out the period at the free throw line with a perfect 2-for-2 trip.

SECOND QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

·        With the first possession of the second half, the Chargers quickly regained that seven point lead with another three pointer from DeBose just 12 seconds into the action.

·        Following that bucket, the Falcons looked to turn the momentum by scoring nine unanswered for the first lead change of the night, but New Haven responded with another three pointer, this time from Gabrielle Stickle (Syracuse, N.Y./Jamesville-DeWitt).

·        The two teams would trade leads for the next three buckets before a Deshaies layup provided a lead the Chargers would hold onto until the final points of the quarter.

·        Bentley managed to tie the score twice late in the half but it wasn't until a pair of free throws with one second remaining that the Falcons managed to take another lead, this time taking it into the locker room.

·        Neither team would score a field goal in the final 73 seconds of the period with the last bucket of the half a layup from King. The final four points of the frame, which all came from Bentley, all came at the free throw line.

THIRD QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

·        For the third time in as many quarters, the Chargers would again score first this time with King scoring three on an old-fashioned three-point play. Just inside the nine-minute mark, Hogan would strike from distance, to make it six-straight from New Haven to open the second half.

·        Defensively, the Chargers held Bentley to just two points through the first five minutes of the third quarter, building up as much as a six-point lead with 6:47 to play in the period.

·        The Falcons would cut that lead in half with their second field goal of the period and eventually tie the score at 33, but New Haven never relinquished the lead to Bentley, taking a 36-33 lead into the intermission thanks to another Hogan three pointer which came with three seconds remaining off the assist from DeBose.

FOURTH QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

·        For the first time on the night, the Falcons would score first in the fourth quarter, netting the first four points to take a 37-36 lead before Deshaies put New Haven back ahead on a layup thanks to the feed from Stickle.

·        The teams would trade the lead four more times over the next four minutes before King broke a 47-47 draw with a second-chance layup with Lister pulling down the offensive board to set her up.

·        On the next possession, Bentley would need two attempts before converting the free throw with Deshaies blocking the first attempt but the Falcons getting the offense board and scoring the second chance opportunity to tie the game at 49 with 40 seconds remaining.

·        After calling a timeout to set up the offense, New Haven was down to its final seconds in the shot clock before DeBose was fouled, providing New Haven what could be the final possession of the game with 14 seconds remaining.

·        After inbounding to the top of the key, the Chargers would need three attempts before Deshaies scored the eventual game winner on a put-back of her own attempt with 0.3 seconds remaining. The Falcons would call for time to advance the ball but was unable to get a tip-in attempt on the ensuing inbound.