Women's Hoops Limits St. Francis to 29

The Central Connecticut women's basketball team earned a 55-29 victory over St. Francis Brooklyn on Saturday afternoon.  The Blue Devils (11-7, 5-2 NEC) were led by junior Jessica Babe's 13 points and nine rebounds.  The 29 points by the Terriers (6-12, 3-4 NEC) tie the CCSU Division I record for fewest points allowed.

In addition to tying the program's record for fewest points allowed, CCSU also held St. Francis to 10 points in the first half.  That is the lowest total for a half since the Blue Devils held Lamar to seven first half points on Nov. 30, 2002.  That game was also played at Detrick Gym and was a 62-32 CCSU victory.

The Blue Devils opened the game with a 11-0 run over the first five and a half minutes of play.  Senior Jaclyn Babe scored seven of her 11 points during her team's opening run.

The Terriers closed the gap to 17-9 with 6:01 left in the first half, but CCSU answered with a stong closing effort.

The Blue Devils, led by Jessica Babe's four points, closed the first half on a 12-1 run that put CCSU up 29-10 at the half.

Senior Kirsten Daamen, five points and four blocks, and Jessica Babe, seven points and five rebounds, also had a strong first period for CCSU.

In the second half, St. Francis cut the CCSU lead to 36-20 with 13:39 left in the game, but again CCSU answered with a run of its own.

CCSU scored 10-straight points to build a 48-22 advantage.  Jessica Babe and Daamen each dropped in four points during the run.  From that point, St. Francis would only be able to close the gap to 23 points before falling to CCSU by 26.

The only other time CCSU has held an opponent to 29 points in a Division I game was Jan. 22, 2011, when the Blue Devils topped Fairleigh Dickinson, 57-29.  That game was also at Detrick Gym.

Three Blue Devils reached double-digit points led by Jessica Babe's 13.  Jaclyn Babe and Daamen also hit double-digits with 11 points each.  Sophomore Kaley Watras added to the offense with five assists.

As a team, Central connected on 24-of-54 (44.4%) shots from the field.  Thanks to a 26-16 advantage on points in the paint and a 12-0 advantage on the fast break, the Blue Devils needed just one three-pointer to earn the victory.

Jessica Babe was also CCSU's leading rebounder with nine.  The other 35 of Central's 44 rebounds were evenly spread throughout the team.  Freshman Kayla Miller grabbed four rebounds and had four points in the game.  Six players grabbed three rebounds to finish right behind Miller, in that group were Jaclyn Babe, Watras, junior Jaleen Thomas, junior Lauren Arbogast, freshman Raven Makins and sophomore Johnna Fisher.

Defensively, the Blue Devils posted 11 steals led by three from Jaclyn Babe and two each from Watras and Thomas.

The Blue Devils have now won five straight games for the first time since the 2010-11 season.  That year CCSU posted two five game winning streaks during a 19 victory campaign.

CCSU will return to action on Monday night at Quinnipiac in a contest of intrastate rivals.