Women's Basketball 3-0 for the First Time in 25 Years After Win at Maine
The Central Connecticut women's basketball is 3-0 for the first
time in 25 years after a 62-57 win over Maine on the road on
Tuesday night. The win, the first road win of the season for CCSU,
came after a solid defensive effort for the Blue Devils. They held
Maine to just three second half field goals in the victory, and
outrebounded the Black Bears 49-30. CCSU last started 3-0 in
1986-87, the first year of Division I at the school. Central
returns to action on Saturday at Siena at 2 p.m.
Down 7-4, the Blue Devils used a pair of Leanne
Crockett threes to fuel a 13-2 run and take a 17-9 lead with
12:16 on the clock. Freshman Jaleen
Thomas converted a three-point play to push the lead to
eight.
The lead reached 25-13 after a pair of free-throws from senior Justina
Udenze and a three from junior Alexzandria
Dowdy. Back-to-back threes from Maine's Amber Smith cut the
lead to 25-19 with 5:34 to play.
The Black Bears ended the half with 12-7 run and the Blue Devils
led 32-31 at the break. Neither team shot well from the floor,
with Central hitting 10-of-27 (37%) and Maine hitting 12-of-27,
good for 44 percent. Central was 4-of-10 from three while the
Black Bears hit on 3-of-6, including their final three attempts of
the half.
The Blue Devils held a 24-15 edge on the boards in the first,
including 10 offensive boards, but committed 17 turnovers that led
to 12 Maine points before halftime.
Dowdy scored 10 of the first 12 points for the Blue Devils in the
second half and they took a 44-36 lead at the first media timeout.
She had five points in the first half and hit two threes and a pair
of running layups to give Central the eight point lead.
The first basket of the game from senior Kerrianne
Dugan made it 46-38 with just over 11 to play. Maine went 10
minutes in the second half without a field goal, their first nine
points of the half came from the free-throw line. A jumper with
9:49 to play made it 48-42.
A pair of baskets by freshman Lauren
Arbogast stretched the lead to 52-42 with six minutes to play
in the game. A three from Thomas made it 55-46. An 8-1 run from
Maine cut the lead to 56-54 with 2:21 to play before a running
bucket by Dugan made it a four point game again.
Up one, Dowdy found Arborgast underneath for a layup to make it
60-57 with 37 seconds to play. Dowdy hit two free-throws to make
it 62-57 with 7.3 on the clock.
Dowdy finished the game with 17 points, matching her career-high.
Arbogast had her most productive game in a Central uniform with 10
points, eight of which came in second half. Crockett and Gabrielle
Oglesby each had eight in the win.
Udenze had 10 rebounds to lead Central, who had six players with at
least four rebounds in the game. Dugan added seven boards to her
six points. Crockett had five and Arbogast had a career-high six
in her third career game.
The Blue Devils return to action on Saturday on the road at Siena
beginning at 2 p.m.