Women's Basketball Loses to SHU
The Central Connecticut women's basketball team dropped its first NEC road game of the season.
The Central Connecticut women's basketball team fell to Sacred Heart on Saturday afternoon. The Blue Devils (8-10, 2-5 NEC) and Pioneers (14-4, 7-0 NEC) came down to the final seconds, but Sacred Heart held on for the 62-57 victory.
The Blue Devils trailed 34-24 heading off the court at halftime, but used a furious comeback to take a 48-47 lead halfway through the second half. The Blue Devils took the lead on a turnaround jumper by junior Kirsten Daamen.
The Daamen jumper was her second basket in a 7-0 run that helped the Blue Devils turn a four point deficit into a 50-47 lead. Also contributing to the run was freshman Kaley Watras who hit a free throw and junior Brooke Bailey who grabbed an offensive rebound that led to Daamen's go-ahead basket.
Central and Sacred Heart traded baskets for the final ten minutes of the game, but the Blue Devils would only be able to take the lead once more.
After falling behind 54-51, junior Jaclyn Babe passed to sophomore Lauren Arbogast for a jumper, and Bailey followed with a pair of free throws to give her team a 55-54 lead.
A layup by Watras would tie the game at 57-57 with just over two minutes left to play, but the Blue Devils would not score again in the game.
In the first half, Central took an early lead, but the Blue Devils were never able to pull away from the Pioneers. Sacred Heart took its first lead of the game with 7:23 remaining in the half. The Pioneers closed the opening period on a 18-5 run.
Daamen finished the game with a team-high 16 points, 14 of those came in the second half.
Arbogast was the only other Blue Devil to score in double-digits. She also had six rebounds in the game.
Sophomore Jessica Babe finished with a team-high 11 rebounds. She also registered nine points to fall just short of a double-double.
Good free throw shooting helped the Blue Devils comeback in the second half. Central hit 11-of-14 free throws in the period and 16-of-20 for the game.
The Blue Devils will return to action on Monday afternoon at Bryant. That game is scheduled to tip-off at 4 p.m.
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