By JAZZE LEWIS
Contributing Writer
The College of Saint Rose Lady Knights had a surge of energy coming out the gate that they couldn’t keep up for the entire game.
The University of New Haven Chargers defeated the Golden Knights 68-57, in the Knights home opener. It was a hard fought match up for both teams. The Chargers were led to victory by two of their sophomore guards, number 33, Allieyah Cubbage a guard who had an impressive 19 points, 7 rebounds, and 1 assist. Sophomore Alexandria Kerr shot a nice 50% percent from the three-point line, in addition to her 15 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists. These girls were the spark for the success in the game. New Haven Chargers finished the game with a 45.8% field goal percentage.
The first quarter of the game was controlled by the Knights, 21-16. After winning the opening tip, the Knights displayed a great deal of energy, immediately converting on the fast break. Defense was the theme of the opening quarter, where the Knight were playing a full court 2-3 zone defense, with intense “trapping” at half from the first two guards. Senior guard, Taylor Nazon of the Golden Knights team , being the ringleader of the defensive efforts obtaining 2 back to back conversion steals within 15 seconds , 3 minutes and 14 seconds into the quarter. “They defended me really hard this game and that made it difficult for me to score.” said Nazon. “So all my steals, rebounds and assists came from me trying to contribute in any way I could to help swing the momentum of the game back in our direction.”Nazon would continue to remain a factor in this game finishing with a solid 10 points, 6 assists, 6 rebounds, and an impressive 7 steals. Accompanying Nazon with a good game for the Knights was senior forward Staci Barrett with 12 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 assists. Saint Rose Golden Knights finished the game with a 40% field goal percentage.
The College of Saint Rose head basketball coach Karen Haag felt her team started the game off well, due to their great energy and effective full court press. Haag credits the team’s short coming to lack of intensity when it came to rebounding and amount of missed layups. “We also missed about 17 lay-ups–hard to come out with a win when you combine those factors.” said Haag. Despite the early loss Haag said that she is optimistic about her young team’s success this season. Haag credited two players in particular that had a stand out game to her. ”Staci Barrett had a. terrific game-she was rock solid. Taylor Nazon got in foul trouble in first half but gave us a great effort in the second half.” said Haag.
From 6:30 seconds remaining in the second quarter the chargers would gain the lead that they held for the remainder of the game. The Chargers were more aggressive in the second quarter this aggressive style of play stuck with them. The aggression was most present in the rebounding side of the game finishing with a team 45 rebound trumpeting the Knights 25 team rebounds. In addition, the Chargers bench outscored the Knights 17 to 8 points. Where the Knights began to lack intensity, the Chargers capitalized on their fatigue still going hard every play getting many second chance opportunities.
The College of Saint Rose men’s basketball staff member, Patrick Driscoll said “New Haven is a good team coming off a big win against Le Moyne, Wednesday night.” Driscoll said how he watched them play in Connecticut and they were a stand out team. “They have a good coach. I could see New Haven as an NCAA team this year”.
New Haven’s second year head coach LaTonya Watson said how she loved the fight in her team this afternoon. She said the game was a hard fought one between the two teams and that both teams were very hungry for the win. Watson said how she was most proud that her team found a way to win. “It’s easy to quit after losing the first three games of the season, easy for a team who is fragile to roll over but my team just continued to fight.
“There fight is what I am most proud of tonight,” said Watson.
“We are a young team in many ways with 5 new players who are learning the system. Although we have had a tough stretch, I am optimistic that if we continue to work hard, focus on rebounding and execution, we will get on track.” said Haag
