WEST HAVEN, Conn. – Senior point guard Gabrielle Stickle (Syracuse, N.Y./Jamesville-DeWitt) stuck a three pointer with four seconds left to give the New Haven a late five-point lead as the Chargers went on to take a 67-63 win over the visiting Firebirds of the University of The District of Columbia on Saturday afternoon. With the win, New Haven improves to 4-5 overall on the year and closed out the non-conference portion of the schedule with a perfect 4-0 record.

"We just beat a very good basketball team," said head coach Debbie Buff. "All week we worked on controlling the pace of the game and staying together when they made their runs. We executed on both sides of the ball. Ro [Aurora Deshaies (Syracuse, N.Y./Bishop Ludden)] was huge today, Eveani and Gab [Gabrielle Stickle (Syracuse, N.Y./Jamesville-DeWitt)] hit some big time 3's and Mack [Makaela Johnson (Hamden, Conn./Hamden)] was a tremendous spark off the bench."

Stickle was one of four starters to rack up 50 of the 67 total points as she finished the afternoon contest with seven, adding to that five rebounds and a team-best four assists. Leading a trio of scorers in double figures was senior Aurora Deshaies (Syracuse, N.Y./Bishop Ludden) who closed out her fifth double double with 19 points and pulled down a game-best 13 rebounds. She also added three assists to her stat line.

Joining her in double figures on the afternoon was junior Charlotte Bassett (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury) with 14 and freshman Eveani Owkuosa who finished with 10 points, scoring on four of her five field goal attempts, one of which came from outside the arc. Also finishing among the leading scorers was transfers Makaela Johnson (Hamden, Conn./Hamden) with nine and Nayeli Dowding (Baldwin, N.Y./Baldwin) with seven.

Deshaies 13 rebounds led all players in the game, while she led the team to 44-39 victory in the battle of the boards. Overall, all eight players who saw time in the game finished with at least one rebound, with Johnson following Deshaies with six. Stickle, Bassett and sophomore Lindsay Hogan (Bayville, N.Y./Locust Valley) all finished with five boards.

Following the calendar rolling over to 2024, New Haven will return to action with a pair of road games next on the docket as they start out heading to Colchester, Vt. to take on the Saint Michael's Purple Knights. Opening tip in the NE10 battle is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. in the front end of a doubleheader with the men's team. All of the action from the Ross Sports Center will air live on NE10Now.tv.