Piper Announces Two NLIs For 2010-11 Season
Central Connecticut State University women's basketball head coach Beryl Piper announced two National Letter of Intent signings for the 2010-11 season. Jess Babe and Lauren Arbogast comitted to CCSU during the early signing period. Both hailing from Mount Lebanon High School in Pittsburgh, PA, Babe is a 5-7 point guard, while Arbogast is a 6-3 center.
Central Connecticut State University women's basketball head coach Beryl Piper announced two National Letter of Intent signings for the 2010-11 season. Jess Babe and Lauren Arbogast committed to CCSU during the early signing period. Both hailing from Mount Lebanon High School in Pittsburgh, PA, Babe is a 5-7 point guard, while Arbogast is a 6-3 center.
Listen to Coach Piper discuss the two players during this week's In the Paint
"We're extremely excited to welcome in two great players to the Blue Devil family," Piper said. "Jess and Lauren will give us a lot of depth in both the back and front courts come next season. They are great kids that will excel on and off the court at CCSU."
Babe averaged 5.2 assists and 3.1 steals per game during the 2008-09 season, helping Mount Lebanon to a 31-0 record and the Pennsylvania 4A State Championship. The squad was the first undefeated team to win the WPIAC Championship since 2005 and the first ever to go undefeated en route to a 4A State Championship.
"Jess is a tenacious defender with a lot of passion for the game," Piper continued. "She is strong with the ball and distributes it well to her teammates. Jess will help out our back court tremendously."
Arbogast led Mount Lebanon with a game high 14 points during the WPIAC Championship game. She averaged 8.1 points per game during the undefeated 2008-09 campaign. Arbogast, Babe and the rest of the Mount Lebanon team was ranked ninth in the 2009 USA Today Girls Basketball Preseason Poll. They will be playing in a couple of high profile tournaments this season, including the T-Mobile Invitational in Birmingham, AL and the Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix, AZ.
"Lauren has improved a lot recently, which will help us in the post next season," Piper said. "She is a post player that runs the floor extremely well. Lauren will add a different dimension to the 2010-11 team."
Central is 1-3 so far this season and will next play on the road at Colgate on Saturday, November 28 at 1:00 p.m.
