Women's Basketball Falls in NEC Opener
The Central Connecticut women's basketball team fell to Robert Morris, 65-48.
The Central Connecticut women's basketball team fell to Robert Morris, 65-48, on Saturday afternoon. The Blue Devils (6-6, 0-1 NEC) were unable to overcome the Colonials' (2-10, 1-0 NEC) six first half three pointers and a 14-point halftime deficit. Junior Lauren Arbogast came off the bench to score a team-high 15 points for the Blue Devils.
Robert Morris connected on three three pointers in the first four minutes of the game to take a quick 9-3 lead over the Blue Devils. The Colonials maintained the lead and took a 34-20 advantage into halftime.
Arbogast and sophomore Kaley Watras led the Blue Devils in the first half with five points each. Watras also led the squad with five rebounds and three steals in the period.
Robert Morris' advantage in the first half was due to its three point shooting. The Colonials connected on six-of-12 three point attempts in the period. RMU finished the game 7-of-16 from behind the arc.
In the second half the Blue Devils closed the gap to 11 points with 6:59 left in the game, but Robert Morris answered with five straight points to go ahead 56-40.
Freshman Kayla Miller played well off the bench before fouling out with 10:15 left in the game. She scored eight points and grabbed four rebounds in 14 minutes on the floor.
In addition to 15 points, Arbogast, a Pittsburgh native, also grabbed six rebounds.
Senior Jaclyn Babe had nine points, Miller had eight, senior Kirsten Daamen had six and Watras finished with five. Junior Jessica Babe had three points and a game-high five assists. Junior Jaleen Thomas had two points, grabbed eight rebounds, a team-high, and had two steals.
Arbogast, 6, and Watras, 6, were right behind Thomas on the boards for Central.
The Blue Devils shot much better in the second half, 13-of-32 (40.6%), but struggled from behind the arc missing all eight three-point attempts in the period. For the game, Central shot 35.2% (19-54) from the floor and 15.4% (2-13) from behind the arc.
The Blue Devils return to action on Monday night with a 7 p.m. game at Saint Francis (PA).
