Posted: Mar 25, 2015
Chargers go down at the Elite Eight …
- New Haven’s dream season came to a close at the hands of California Baptist at the Elite Eight in Sioux Falls, South Dakota yesterday, 86-77. All-American Aquillin Hayes (career-high 32 points; 12-24 FG, 8-10 FT) collected her fourth straight NCAA tournament double-double (10 rebounds) to lead the Charger effort but in the end the Lancers (28-6), one of the nation’s highest scoring teams, prevailed. Darsha Burnside (27 points, 16 boards, 5 rejections; 10-19 FG, 7-8 FT) was a force in the paint for CBU, the first team ever from the PacWest Conference to reach the Elite Eight stage. She was one of four double figure scorers for the Lancers, as Courtney Nelson (19 points, 8 boards), Cassidy Mihalko (14 points) and Kamille Diaz (12 points, 6 boards, 6 assists) supplied excellent depth. UNH, meanwhile, didn’t support Hayes nearly as well, although Elizabeth Cruso (10 points), Bria Moore (10 points, 7 boards) and Ashley LeBlanc (8 points, 10 rebounds) did chip in nicely. CBU scored the game’s first six points but the Chargers recovered and led by as many as five points (28-23, 7:08) after a 6-0 flurry. The contest stayed tight and was even at the half, 36-36. Burnside scored four points wrapped around a Diaz trey to help CBU start the second half with a 7-2 burst and take a lead they never relinquished, 43-38 (18:20). The Chargers were always in the game, though, and kept the Lancers from opening up a large advantage. The margin remained in single digits and UNH was as close as 75-73 at the 3:44 mark thanks to a 6-2 spurt capped by a Lauren Hebert (9 points, 6 boards off the bench) steal and hoop. Mihalko responded with a basket (3:20) and a killer three-pointer (2:45), putting California Baptist on the road to a semifinal date with Limestone, 80-73. In fact, Mihalko’s triple was the game’s final field goal; CBU out-scored the Chargers 6-4 the rest of the way with all the points coming at the foul line (CBU 6-8; UNH 4-8 FT). Hayes and Moore split a pair each to cut the deficit to 80-75 (2:09) but that was as close as they came down the stretch. California Baptist had the upper hand in every shooting category (45% FG, 6-15 3FG and 22-29 FT to UNH’s 35% FG, 3-14 3FG and 18-25 FT) while also grabbing more rebounds (53-41). The only area in which New Haven prospered was in turnovers (+13, 21-8), leading to an 18-7 edge in points-off-turnovers. Despite the setback, UNH enjoyed its best season in more than a generation, this being their first Elite Eight trip since 1988. It also completes a magnificent turnaround for the program, as the seniors on this team (Hayes, Cruso, LeBlanc, Moore and Rykema Stone) suffered through a 3-24 season as freshmen and found a way to turn it around and reach the national stage a few seasons later.