WEST HAVEN, Conn. – Southern Connecticut women's basketball beat Elm City rival, the University of New Haven, 59-56, in an NE10 thriller on Wednesday night. Southern improved to an overall record of 8-6 and an NE10 record of 5-3. New Haven dropped to an overall record of 5-7 and an NE10 record of 1-7.
Rheyna Steinauer had a career night for the Owls, as she led the team with a career-high of 19 points, a team-best four steals, a team-best of nine rebounds, made three three-pointers, shot a team-best of 4-for-6 from the free-throw line and shot a team-best of 6-for-13 from the floor.
Jillian Martin,
Katie Williamson and
Renza Milner all recorded eight points each. Martin had a team-best of eight assists and had three steals. Williamson had two rebounds and a steal against the Chargers. Milner had three rebounds, an assist and shot a team-best 4-for-6 from the free-throw line.
Makenzie Helms had six points and an assist, while
Ashley Evans had four points, a rebound and a block against New Haven.
Julianna Bonilla and
Hope Fox each had three points, as Bonilla had a block and a steal. Fox had three rebounds and a steal for Southern.
In the first quarter, New Haven started off the game with 16 points over Southerns' 11 points. In the second quarter, the Owls began their comeback against the Chargers. New Haven held onto the lead; however, Southern inched closer going into half with a score of 33-25 in favor of the Chargers.
In the second half, Southern came out of the locker room ready to go. They continued to inch closer to the Chargers' lead as both teams scored 15 points each. In the fourth quarter, it was a back and forth battle between the Elm City and NE10 rivals. However, with less than five minutes remaining, the Owls began to capture the lead.
The Chargers responded again but once again Southern came back strong against their opponent. With 1:32 left, the Owls took the lead with two big free throws made by
Rheyna Steinauer, to give the Owls a two-point lead. Southern played great defense against New Haven in the last minute, to get the hard-earned third straight win.
The Owls return to action on Saturday, Jan. 13 at 1:30 p.m. against NE10 foe, Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, New Hampshire.
