Late New Haven Basket Spoils Furious Fourth Quarter Comeback By UB Women's Basketball

Bridgeport, Conn.-A layup by the University of New Haven's Kameryn King with just under two seconds to play lifted the visiting Chargers to a 76-74 road win over the host University of Bridgeport Purple Knights in a non-conference women's basketball game in the Park City on Wednesday night. 

UB, playing on back-to-back nights, trailed by 16 points, 62-46, entering the fourth quarter, but the Purple Knights staged a furious rally opening the final period on a 16-0 run to tie the game at 62-62 with 6:35 to play and eventually holding a five-point, 73-68, lead with 2:19 to go.

New Haven would then go on a 6-0 run to take 74-73 lead following a jumper by Aurora Deshaies, who led all scorers in the game with 22 points, with 19 second to go.

After taking a time out to advance the ball, UB would tie the game at 74-74 three seconds later when freshman Mackenzie Creighton (Rockaway, N.J.) split two free throws after she was called in off the bench to shoot for an injured Asya Brandon (Jr., Hamden, Conn.), who took a hard foul.

With the game tied at 74-74, the Chargers called a time out to advance the ball setting up King's heroics, as UB could not get a look at the basket in the final second of play after the driving layup.

Bridgeport is now 4-6 overall and UNH ups its season record to 5-2.

Asya Brandon led four Purple Knights in double-digit scoring on Wednesday with season-high 18 points off the UB bench. 

Brandon was joined in double figures by senior Stephanie McBride (Brooklyn, N.Y.), who fell just shy of a double-double with 14 points and a team-high nine rebounds, and junior Shakira Hester (Bronx, N.Y.) and freshman Amani Melendez (Woodbridge, Va.), who each had 10 points. 

McBride also had three blocked shots and two steals on the nights, and Hester went a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor.

The UB women's basketball team will now take over a week's break from games for final exams before closing out the team's pre-Holiday slate with a home game against Southern New Hampshire University on Friday, December 16 at 5:00 p.m. and a road contest versus St. Thomas Aquinas on Monday, December 19 at 1:00 p.m.

PHOTO BY CLARUS MULTIMEDIA