SOUTH EASTON, Mass. – Aquillin Hayes (Harlem, N.Y./Wings Academy) has been selected as the Northeast-10 Defensive Player of the Year, as announced this morning by the NE-10 and voted upon by the conference's 15 head coaches. Hayes also earned Second Team All-Northeast-10 laurels, and Briana Bradford (Waterbury, Conn./Holy Cross) collected an All-NE-10 Honorable Mention.
 
Complete Release at Northeast10.org
 
En route to Defensive Player of the Year recognition, Hayes shares second place in the Northeast-10 with 10.2 rebounds per game and ranks ninth in the conference with 0.88 blocks per game. The junior adds 1.35 steals per contest on the defensive end for a Chargers' team slotted fourth in the NE-10 with 63.0 points allowed per outing.
 
Hayes is New Haven's second Northeast-10 Defensive Player of the Year since joining the conference prior to the 2008-09 season. Helin Marte earned the honor following the 2009-10 campaign.
 
Also a Second Team All-NE-10 honoree, Hayes leads New Haven offensively and ranks eighth in the conference with 14.9 points per game and distributes a team-best 2.4 assists per contest. She is shooting 48.2 percent from the field and 71.9 percent from the free throw line. Hayes has reached a career-high 27 points on three occasions this winter and hauled in 20 rebounds at nationally-ranked Rollins on Nov. 30. She has registered 10 double-doubles, including six in Northeast-10 play as the Chargers finished the regular season 18-8 overall and 13-7 in the conference to claim the No. 2 seed in the NE-10 Southwest. New Haven is also No. 8 in the most recent NCAA East Region Rankings, which reflect action through Sunday, Feb. 23.
 
Bradford earns Honorable Mention All-Northeast-10 status as a follow-up to her NE-10 All-Rookie Team performance last season. This winter, she ranks second on the team with 13.1 points per game, shooting 40.8 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from beyond the arc with a team-leading 34 made three-pointers. Bradford is also an 83 percent free-throw shooter while leading the team in attempts (100) and conversions (83) from the stripe. The sophomore fills out her statsheet with 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game.
 
New Haven begins postseason play on Sunday, March 2 when Assumption visits Charger Gymnasium for the first-ever home Northeast-10 Championship Quarterfinal in program history. Tip-off from Charger Gymnasium is slated for 2 p.m. as the front-end of a doubleheader that also features New Haven men's basketball hosting an NE-10 Quarterfinal against Saint Michael's at 4 p.m. Both games will be broadcast live in high definition and free of charge on NewHavenChargers.com.