PHOTO GALLERY

WEST HAVEN, Conn. – A balanced scoring attack that saw all five New Haven starters with nine or more points led the New Haven women's basketball team to a convincing home opening victory over the visiting Pace University Setters. With the win, New Haven remains unbeaten on the season with a 4-0 overall record and a 2-0 mark in the NE10.

Leading the Chargers on the evening was grad transfer Paige Cote (Sanford, Maine/Sanford) who closed out the action with a game-best 14 points as New Haven finished the game with all but six points coming from its starting five. Joining her in double figures was junior transfer Aniya McDonald-Perry (Middletown, Conn./Putnam Science Academy) with a dozen and sophomore Lindsay Hogan (Bayville, N.Y./Locust Valley) and senior Sabira Ahayeva (Minsk, Belarus/Minsk #27) who each chipped in 11. Rounding out the starting five was Charlotte Bassett (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury) who finished one point shy of a double double with nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

As a team, New Haven closed out the game shooting 54.3 percent from the field, connecting on 25-of-46 field goal attempts, with five of those coming from outside the three point arc. The Chargers were also 8-of-10 at the line and held a commanding 39-20 edge in the rebounding battle led by Bassett's 10 and McDonald-Perry who followed with nine.

For the third time this season, the Chargers closed out the game in double figures as a team in the assist column with a pair of players leading the way with three each, Cote and Bassett. Cote also added a pair of blocks, part of five total for the team, while McDonald-Perry led the team with a pair of steals.

COACHES QUOTES

"Excellent home opener with an electrifying environment. We were able to counter their runs throughout the full 40 minutes. We shared the ball and had four in double figures. We were stellar on the boards and out rebounded by 19. Great start on the season to go 4-0"

FIRST QUARTER NOTES

·        New Haven came out of the gates scoring, putting the first six points on the board, including four from Bassett. After a timeout, the Setters answered that deficit by scoring the next eight points for the first lead change of the game and the only lead in favor of the Setters.

·        The Chargers erased that Pace lead less than a minute later thanks to a pair at the line from Cote which sparked an 11-0 run to close out the opening quarter. In addition to her two at the line, Cote added the next basket to score four straight, while McDonald-Perry closed out the rally with the final five points.

·        Sandwiched between Cote and McDonald-Perry's points was the lone three pointer of the quarter off the finger tips of Ahayeva.

·        As a team, the Chargers wrapped up the first 10 minutes shooting an even 60-percent on 6-of-10 with one of those Ahayeva's three which came on the only attempt from outside the arc.

SECOND QUAR TER NOTES

·        Coming out of the first break, the Chargers opened up their first double digit lead of the evening as Ahayeva went deep again.

·        The Setters managed to cut that lead down to eight before the Charges answered be regaining a 12 point advantage, this time around at the line thanks to a pair of Bassett.

·        The teams would then trade three pointers to put the lead back at 12 for New Haven with the Setters managing to cut it down to eight once more before a final jump shot from Cote gave the Blue and Gold a 10 point lead at the half, 29-19.

·        All 29 of the Chargers points in the first half came from its starting five with Cote and McDonald-Perry each leading the way with eight. The Chargers also held a 23-9 advantage on the boards after 20 minutes of action.

THIRD QUARTER NOTES

·        Despite regaining a 10 point lead on the first New Haven basket of the half, the Setters began to chip away at the double digit deficit by cutting it within five with six minutes remaining.

·        New Haven answered by scoring the next four points but were unsuccessful in regaining a double figure lead the remainder of the quarter.

·        A layup from Hogan off a Setter turnover would be the final points of the quarter as the Chargers took a 45-37 lead into the final break.

·        The first half note of all points coming from the starting five continued in the third quarter with none of the 16 points coming from the bench.

FOURTH QUARTER NOTES

·        New Haven net the first two baskets of the fourth quarter to regain a 12 point lead and built that advantage out to as much as 15 in the first five minutes with seven of the first nine points of the quarter coming from Hogan.

·        To answer that 15 point deficit, the Setters looked to rally but could only muster six straight points before Nayeli Dowding (Baldwin, N.Y./Baldwin) scored one at the line and then drained a three pointer for the first points of the night from the bench.

·        That long range bucket from Dowding was the first of back-to-back from outside the arc with the second from Ahayeva putting the contest out of reach for Pace.

·        New Haven would regain the 15 point lead to match the largest of the game thanks to a layup from Bianca Pendleton (Accokeek, Md./New Hope Academy) who had come off the bench just 18 seconds prior to the hoop.

UP NEXT

After enjoying a bye weekend, the Chargers will look to maintain their unbeaten NE10 record on Tuesday, November 26 when they head to Worcester, Mass. to take on the Assumption Greyhounds. Opening tip from Laska Gymnasium is slated for 5:30 p.m. with all of the action available live on NE10 Now on Flo College.