Women's Hoops Falls At Home To Quinnipiac, 56-45

Sophomore Alexzandria Dowdy scored a season-best 12 points and knocked down two three-pointers for the first time in her career, but Central Connecticut State University dropped a 56-45 home decision to Quinnipiac Thursday evening. The Blue Devils fall to 5-10 overall and 2-3 in Northeast Conference play, while the Bobcats improve to 9-7 and 4-1 in the NEC.

The Blue Devils recorded their worst offensive first half of the season, as they only scored 12 points on 10.7 percent shooting from the field. Quinnipiac got out to a 27-12 lead at the break after forcing Central to three of 28 from the field and zero out of three from beyond the arc. The Bobcats missed all of their three-point attempts (0-10), but outrebounded CCSU 28-21 to get out to the early lead. Sophomore Jacinda Dunbar and junior Courtney Kaminski led the way for Quinnipiac in the first half, scoring eight points each. Kaminski added 10 rebounds and two steals in the opening frame.

CCSU used a 7-2 run to start the second half to get back into the game. Junior Leanne Crockett knocked down a three off a pass from junior Kerrianne Dugan to open the period. After Crockett stole an errant Bobcat pass she fed Dowdy for a fastbreak layup to make it 27-17 with 18:48 on the clock. After a layup by Kaminski, Dugan fired back with a two point jumper to make it 29-19 less than two minutes into the second frame.

The Blue Devils got as close as seven twice. The first time was at 36-29 when CCSU finished off another 5-0 run on a pull up jumper by Dowdy. After Dunbar hit a layup to get the Bobcat lead back to nine, junior Justina Udenze cut it back to seven one more time with a turn around jumper in the paint. Quinnipiac extended its lead to as many as 14 and went on to the 56-45 victory.

The Bobcats used an advantage in the post, as they outscored CCSU 34-20 in the paint and 12-5 on second chance opportunities. Dunbar led the way with 12 points and eight rebounds, while Kaminski and junior Lailah Pratt added 10 each. Kaminski finished with 11 boards, including five on the offensive end.

Dowdy was tops for Central with 12 and added a game high three steals. Udenze tallied nine points and 11 rebounds before fouling out with just under five minutes to play. Dugan chipped in with seven points, seven boards and three assists in the defeat. The Blue Devils' 27.3 percent shooting percentage was the worst thus far during the 2009-10 season.

CCSU will next host defending NEC Champion Sacred Heart on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

The 2009-10 men's and women's basketball seasons are brought to you by Farmington Bank.