WALTHAM, Mass. – With seven different Chargers finding the hoop, the New Haven women's basketball team dropped a road decision to No. 4 Bentley 57-46 on Sunday afternoon at the Dana Center. With the loss, New Haven falls to 9-4 on the season and 4-3 in the Northeast-10 Conference.

Leading the Chargers in the game was Aniya McDonald-Perry (Middletown, Conn./Putnam Science Academy) who finished with 11 points, the only player in double figures. The senior post finished the game shooting 5-of-10 from the field while adding a free throw. Additionally, the Middletown, Conn. native pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds to complete her first double double in a Blue and Gold uniform.

Joining her in leading transfer center Paige Cote (Sanford, Maine/Sanford) and freshman guard Schuyler Coles (Harrisburg, Pa./Susquehanna Township) who each finished nine points. Cote finished the game with a pair of field goals, including her second three pointer of the season while going 4-of-6 at the free throw line. Coles saw the majority of her points come at the line where she went 7-of-8, while adding one bucket.

As a team, New Haven closed out the game shooting 26.9 percent from the field, connecting on 14-of-52 field goal attempts, with four of the 14 buckets from outside the three point arc. The Chargers were also 14-of-20 at the free throw line. Bentley also closed ou the game with a 35-34 advantage in the battle of the boards, with McDonald-Perry leading the way with her 14 boards.

FIRST QUARTER NOTES

·        Bentley came out of the gates to score the first eight points of the game, all in the first three minutes, and never looked back as they led wire-to-wire.

·        New Haven broke into the scoring column just before the midway point of the quarter when Charlotte Bassett (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury) connected on the second of two free throws, while Lindsay Hogan (Bayville, N.Y./Locust Valley) followed with the first bucket for her team on a floating jumper.

·        The Falcons built their lead into double figures scoring the next seven straight, and led by as much as 12 on two occasions before the first intermission.  

SECOND QUARTER NOTES

·        Trailing by a dozen to open the quarter, Sabira Ahayeva (Minsk, Belarus/Minsk #27) struck first in the frame, nearly 90 seconds in, to cut the Falcons lead down to nine.

·        Bentley answered by scoring five straight to extend its lead to 14 before New Haven rattled off seven straight to cut the deficit to seven, 22-15.

·        The final five points in that rally came from Bassett with the first three on an and-one and the second as she turned a Bentley turnover into a jumper thanks to an assist from Coles.

·        Bentley closed out the half scoring nine of the final 12 points to take a 31-18 lead into the halftime break. The Chargers final bucket of the half came from beyond the arc off the fingertips of Nayeli Dowding (Baldwin, N.Y./Baldwin).

THIRD QUARTER NOTES

·        Just like the second quarter, New Haven struck first in the second half with the first points coming on a pair of free throws from Coles, this time around more than 90 seconds into the action.

·        After trading the next two baskets, the Falcons opened up its lead to 16, which was its biggest of the game to that point.

·        New Haven answered that deficit by outscoring Bentley 12-2 over the final six minutes to cut the Bentley lead to six as Coles capped off the quarter with another two free throws with eight seconds remaining before the buzzer.

·        During that late rally, the Chargers defense forced Bentley into seven turnovers, including on the final possession of the quarter, and held the Falcons to just three field goal attempts with just one going through the hoop.

FOURTH QUARTER NOTES

·        Coming out of the final intermission, the Falcons scored first on a three pointer and pushed their lead back to double figures just two minutes into the action and to 14 just three minutes in, outscoring the Chargers 10-2 in the first 3:11 of the frame.

·        Ahayeva answered that rally with another three pointer to pull within 11 just under four minutes in.

·        From that point on, the two teams would trade baskets over the final six minutes of the game with Bentley leading by no more than 13 and New Haven getting no closer than 10 in that stretch.

UP NEXT

New Haven will return to the friendly confines of the Jeffery P. Hazell Athletics Center when they next take the court, welcoming the Saint Anselm Hawks to West Haven for a Wednesday, January 8, night doubleheader. Opening tip off between the Chargers and Hawks is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. with all of the action available live on NE10 Now on Flo College.