NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The New Haven women's basketball team made a run in the second half but couldn't recover from its halftime deficit, dropping a 60-44 decision to the Southern Connecticut State University Owls in the opening round of the Northeast-10 Conference Championship. With the loss, New Haven wraps up its 2023-24 season with a 8-19 overall record after concluding the regular season with a 4-18 record in Northeast-10 Conference action

Leading the Chargers in their final game of the season was graduate post player Aurora Deshaies (Syracuse, N.Y./Bishop Ludden) who completed her conference leading 13th double double with 10 points and 18 rebounds. Overall, she was one of two players to finish in double figures as graduate transfer Makaela Johnson (Hamden, Conn./Hamden) finished with 13 points after shooting 5-of-9 from the field, with a pair of three point field goals.

Following Deshaies and Johnson in the scoring column was senior point guard Gabrielle Stickle (Syracuse, N.Y./Jamesville-DeWitt) junior transfer Nayeli Dowding (Baldwin, N.Y./Baldwin) who each finished with five points, while sophomore guard Lindsay Hogan (Bayville, N.Y./Locust Valley) added four. Stickle also led the way with four assists, while Johnson followed her with a pair of assists.

As a team, New Haven finished the game shooting 34 percent from the field, connecting on 17-of-50 field goal attempts. Among the 17 field goals were four from beyond the three point arc while they Chargers were also 6-of-12 at the free throw line.

The Blue and Gold did win the battle of the boards with a 35-29 decision led by Deshaies game-high 18 rebounds as she was the only player on either team to finish with double figure boards. Johnson followed her with five rebounds.