Women's Basketball Opens with Win
Junior Jaclyn Babe scored 16 points in her first game with the Blue Devils.
Junior Jaclyn Babe scored 16 points in her Central Connecticut debut to lead the women's basketball team to a 53-48 victory over Maine. The Blue Devils started the season at home for the second straight season and once again begin the year 1-0.
Central built a 27-18 halftime lead on the strength of six points from both Babe and sophomore Lauren Arbogast who made her first career start.
With 14:31 left in the first half the Blue Devils trailed 8-7. A minute later Arbogast hit a jumper which made the score 9-8 and freshman Johnna Fisher followed with another basket that pushed the lead to three.
By the six-minute mark, the lead had grown to nine with freshman Danielle Davis hitting a long three and following with a jumper. The margin would stay at nine points heading to the half after a layup by Babe which made the score 27-19 at the break.
The Blue Devils did not trail in the second half, as Babe scored 10 more points and junior Kirsten Daamen dropped in seven of her own.
The Blackbears closed the gap late in the second half, but Arbogast, Daamen and Babe all stepped to the free throw line and hit shots to put the game out of reach.
Freshman Kaley Watras started at point guard in her first collegiate game. She ran the offense well dishing out five assists in a team-high 34 minutes. She also contributed a team-high eight rebounds and a pair of steals.
Babe posted a game-high 16 points in her first start for the Blue Devils. She sat out all of last season after transferring to Central from Duquesne.
In the middle, Daamen posted a solid line of nine points, six rebounds and two blocks. When she was off the court, Fisher and junior Jameilia Dillon filled in nicely. Fisher contributed seven points, four rebounds and a block in her first collegiate game. While Dillon contributed four points and two boards.
The Blue Devils will return to action on Wednesday when they travel to the University of Massachusetts. The game is scheduled to tip-off at 7 p.m.
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