WEST HAVEN, Conn. – The New Haven women's basketball team opened up with back-to-back three pointers from Paige Cote (Sanford, Maine/Sanford) and never looked back as the Blue and Gold took a 69-52 victory over the visiting Saint Anselm Hawks on Wednesday night at the Jeffery P. Hazell Athletics Center. With the win, which snapped a three-game skid, New Haven improves to 10-4 on the season and 5-3 in the Northeast-10 Conference.

Cote would go on to finish with 11 points with all three of her field goals on the night coming from beyond the three point arc where she was 3-of-5. She also finished 2-of-2 at the free throw line and was part of four players, all starters, to finish in double figures.

Leading all Chargers on the night was Bianca Pendleton (Accokeek, Md./New Hope Academy) who closed out the game tying her career-high 15 points on 7-of-13 from the field while also leading the team with seven rebounds, one of three players who finished with a game-high seven boards.

Finishing just behind Pendleton was junior Lindsay Hogan (Bayville, N.Y./Locust Valley) who finished with 14 points, while senior Sabira Ahayeva (Minsk, Belarus/Minsk #27) rounded out the leading scorers matching Cote with 11 points. Hogan also matched Cote with three baskets from outside the arc, part of four total field goals while also going 3-of-4 at the free throw line, Additionally, Hogan finished with a career-high six steals, doubling her previous career-best, while also leading the team with four assists along with Ahayeva.

As a team, New Haven finished the game shooting 43.1 percent, connecting on 22-of-51 field goals, with nine of the 22 baskets from outside the arc. Seven of the nine three pointers came in the first half as the Chargers took a 38-20 lead into the intermission. New Haven also held a 34-30 advantage in the battle of the boards.

COACHES QUOTES

"Tonight showed our team potential," said head coach Debbie Buff. "It was an all-around team victory. We played free and confident. We talked the last two days about having fun and we took that to heart. BP [Bianca Pendleton (Accokeek, Md./New Hope Academy)] and Paige [Paige Cote (Sanford, Maine/Sanford)] really stepped up and played well together. Skye [Schuyler Coles (Harrisburg, Pa./Susquehanna Township)] and Sabira [Sabira Ahayeva (Minsk, Belarus/Minsk #27)] were fantastic handling the ball and Lindsay Hogan (Bayville, N.Y./Locust Valley) had a stellar game with 14 points, seven rebounds, four assists and six steals. Very proud of team for fighting thru adversity."

FIRST QUARTER NOTES

·         On the second trip down, New Haven would be the first to get on the board when Cote struck from outside the arc with a straightaway three off the feed from Hogan.

·         Cote would add another from beyond the arc before Pendelton went back-to-back in the paint with the second giving the Chargers a 10-4 lead and forcing a timeout from Saint Anselm.

·         After missing a pair from inside the arc, Cote went back outside with her third from the top of the key to give her nine points on a perfect 3-of-3 from long range.

·         Defensively, the Chargers held Saint Anselm scoreless for nearly a five-minute stretch with that third three from Cote giving New Haven a nine point lead at 13-4.

SECOND QUARTER NOTES

·         In the same fashion that Cote opened the game, Ahayeva struck first in the second quarter with a three pointer, part of back-to-back with Hogan adding the second for New Haven to start the second on a 6-0 run, which led to a 19-6 lead just 61 seconds into the period

·         Pendleton and Schuyler Coles (Harrisburg, Pa./Susquehanna Township) would extend that to a 10-0 rally scoring on back-to-back possessions, the second from Coles on a fastbreak converting off a Hawks turnover.

·         On the other end, New Haven's defense kept the Hawks off the board for the first six minutes of action, extending their lead to 27-6 before a pair of free throws were the first points of the half for Saint Anselm.

·         Hogan would answer those two free throws with her second three of the quarter to extend the lead to 30-6 before Saint Anselm added another pair at the line while going 0-for-7 from the field.

·         It would take nearly eight minutes before the Hawks would get their first field goal of the quarter, but it would provide the spark Saint Anselm needed as they would score on their next four possessions to begin chipping away at the deficit.

·         New Haven would close out the half on a 5-0 rally following a pair of free throws from Hogan and a three pointer at the buzzer off the finger tips of Nayeli Dowding (Baldwin, N.Y./Baldwin).

THIRD QUARTER NOTES

·         After an opening floater for the Hawks on the first possession of the half it was a defensive battle for the first three minutes before New Haven went back-to-back to take a 44-22 lead.

·         The first of those field goals for New Haven came on a layup from Pendleton thanks to the high-low pass from Cote. Hogan followed on the next possession with a corner three for the first 20-point lead of the evening.

·         Saint Anselm broke up that 20-point advantage with their first three pointer of the night after going 0-for-8 to start the game.

·         After a scoreless two minutes for both teams Charlotte Bassett (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury) put the New Haven lead back to 20 as she drove the baseline for a pair and completed the three-point at the line.

·         The teams would trade three pointers to close out the half with Bassett striking last on a straight-away three to put the lead at 56-36 at the final intermission.

FOURTH QUARTER NOTES

·         After more than two scoreless minutes from both sides to open up the fourth, Saint Anselm struck first, however Hogan answered just 15 seconds later with a layup to open New Haven's scoring.

·         The next four minutes was much of the same as both teams traded buckets with the Hawks striking first and New Haven matching.

·         It wasn't until inside the final three minutes that the Chargers extended their lead back over the 20-point plateau, with all of that scoring at the free throw line on a combined 4-of-6 effort.

·         Following a field goal from Merit Innocent (Delta State, Nigeria/Busche Academy) with 38 seconds remaining, the Hawks closed out the game with the final five points to cut the deficit under 20 points to close it out.

UP NEXT                                                                                                               

The Chargers will enjoy a weekend bye before returning to work with the first half of the rivalry series when they travel across town to take on the Southern Connecticut State University Owls on Tuesday, January 14. Opening tip off from Moore Fieldhouse is set for 5:30 p.m. with all of the action available live on NE10 Now on Flo College.