Raymond notched a double-double for the second-straight game, matching her career-high with 32 points while grabbing a season-best 13 rebounds (PHOTO BY Mary Gettens)

Raymond and Thornton career-bests lead Skyhawks to second-straight win

WEST HAVEN, Conn. (January 15, 2022) – Stonehill College built a big first quarter lead and made it stand down the stretch to claim its second-straight win with a 64-61 decision over the University of New Haven in Northeast-10 Conference women's basketball action at Charger Gymnasium this afternoon. 

Leaders

Stonehill
Kayla Raymond Senior, Forward: Second-straight double-double with career-high matching 32 points (12-for-23 FGs, 3-for-6 threes), season-high 13 rebounds, 2 blocked shots, 2 assists, 2 steals.
Jada Thornton Sophomore, Guard: Career-high 17 points (7-for-9), 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals. 

New Haven
Camryn DeBose Senior, Guard: 24 points (9-for-19, 3-for-7 threes), 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists.
Kameryn King Junior, Guard: 11 points (2-for-3 threes), 3 steals.
Alyssa Stevenson Junior, Forward: 12 rebounds (four offensive), 7 points, 3 assists. 

How it Happened

• Stonehill started fast against New Haven, which was playing its first game in four days shy of a month, scoring the first 15 points of the contest, including a combined 12 from Thornton (7) and Raymond (5), to gain early control.
• New Haven answered with King draining a three-pointer to put the Chargers on the board to spark a 10-4 run that closed the quarter and drew the hosts back within nine (19-10) heading to the second frame.

• Thornton netted a career-high 17 points in her first collegiate start this afternoon (PHOTO BY Mary Gettens)

  Stonehill largely kept New Haven at arm's length in the second quarter, with Raymond scoring eight points in the frame, taking a seven-point cushion (31-24) into halftime after the Chargers had trimmed the lead to five (29-24) after a DeBose triple with 1:15 remaining.
• Stonehill quickly pushed its lead back into double figures (38-26) over the first two minutes of the third quarter after a Raymond three.
• The Skyhawks lead was still 11 (44-33) after a Raymond jumper with 3:18 remaining in the third when New Haven started chipping away and closed within three (44-41) with 49-seconds to play in the frame after back-to-back threes by DeBose.
• Raymond capped the third with a three of her own to give Stonehill an eight-point lead (49-41) heading to the final ten minutes, but New Haven scored the first nine points of the fourth to grab its first lead of the day (50-49) on a jumper by junior Briana Van Cleaf with 6:45 to play in regulation.
• The lead was short-lived, however, as freshman Maureen Stapleton answered with a layup at the other end and Stonehill regained control with an 11-2 run to restore its eight-point cushion (60-52) with 1:38 to play after seven-straight points by Raymond.
• New Haven made one more push, closing within two (60-58) after a King steal and three-point play with 33-seconds to go, but Stonehill sealed it with free-throws by Raymond and Thornton from there that provided enough cover for a late three by King to produce the final margin.

Noteworthy

• Raymond notched her second double-double of the season (8^th career), both this week, as she matched her career scoring high set at Merrimack College on February 10, 2019 with her third career 30-point game.
• Raymond's 13 rebounds are a season-high and her eighth career double-digit rebound game.
• Thornton celebrated her first collegiate start with her first career double-figure scoring game, having not netted more than four points in a game over the course of her first collegiate season prior to today.
• Raymond and Thornton combined for 77-percent of Stonehill's offense for the contest, combining to shoot 59.4-percent (19-for-32) from the field, compared to 23.3-percent (7-for-30) for the remainder of the team.
• Raymond's 32 points give her 911 in 56 career games.
• Stonehill limited New Haven to 38.7% (24-62) shooting on the afternoon, but the Chargers did connect on 8-of-16 (50%) three-pointers.
• Stonehill led for all but 14-seconds in the game.

Up Next

Stonehill (5-5, 4-4 NE10) is right back in action on Monday, when it hosts Southern New Hampshire University, ranked No. 2 in the D2SIDA East Region poll, at Merkert Gymnasium at 4 p.m. New Haven (5-7, 0-6 NE10) hosts Adelphi University on Monday at 1 p.m.

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