Women's Hoops Beats Bryant, 59-50

The Central Connecticut women's basketball team earned a 59-50 victory over Bryant on Saturday afternoon at Detrick Gym.  The Blue Devils (7-7, 1-2 NEC) were led by a trio of 12-point scorers, including senior Kirsten Daamen who registered Central's first double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Alumni Day Photo Album

The Blue Devils opened the game with a three by senior Jalcyn Babe, which gave Central an early 3-0 lead.  Central held the lead for the first nine minutes of the game with sophomore Kaley Watras doing the bulk of the scoring for Central.   

A layup by Bryant's Maureen Leahy gave the Bulldogs (4-9, 1-2 NEC) their first lead of the game, 9-8, with just over 11 minutes left in the period.

Watras again answered for Central, drawing a foul and hitting a free throw to tie the score at 9-9, but a three by Bryant gave the Bulldogs the lead for good in the first half.

After surrendering a six-point run to the Bulldogs, Central fell behind 29-19.

The Blue Devils climbed back into the game with a 7-0 run of their own late in the half. A layup by junior Lauren Arbogast and a pair of free throws by junior Jessica Babe cut the deficit to single digits.  Daamen added a free throw and Watras dropped in two free throws to cut Bryant's lead to 29-26 heading into halftime.

Watras finished the half as the game's leading scorer with 10 points.  Jessica Babe and Arbogast both had four points and four rebounds in the half for the Blue Devils.

Early baskets by Arbogast and Daamen helped the Blue Devils tie the score at 30-30 in the second half.

Bryant pulled in front again and led 38-34 follwing a layup by Courtney Schissler with 15:05 left in the game, but the Blue Devils answered with a 5-0 run.

A free throw by Daamen and a layup by Jessica Babe got the Blue Devils within a point of the Bulldogs.  Central was finally able to retake the lead at the 12:12 mark of the second half as Jessica Babe cut to the hoop on an inbound play and hit a layup to put the Blue Devils ahead 39-38.

Tied at 43-43, Daamen grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled on the put-back.  Daamen hit both free throws to give Central a 45-43 lead.  Two possessions later, Arbogast hit a jumper in the lane and Daamen capped the Blue Devils' 6-0 run with a jumper that put CCSU ahead 49-43.

Bryant's Katie Whittington used a pair of free throws to pull her team within a point, but CCSU answered with a fast break layup by Arbogast to go up 53-50.  Freshman Nicole Ferguson added a free throw to put the Blue Devils ahead by four with 33 seconds remaining in the game.

Junior Jaleen Thomas and senior Jaclyn Babe combined to go 5-of-6 from the free throw line over the final 30 seconds to extend Central's lead to 59-50.

Watras, Arbogast and Daamen all finished with 12 points.  Jessica and Jaclyn Babe both had eight points in the game and led the team in assists with five and four, respectively. 

Arbogast fell a rebound short of her first double-double of the season.  She finished with nine boards.

Jessica Babe also added seven rebounds and four steals to her stat line.  While Daamen had her best game of the season with four blocks.

The Blue Devils will return to action on Monday night against intrastate rival Sacred Heart.  The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tip-off and fans can follow the action live on NECFrontRow.com.