Women's Hoops Closes Out Regular Season On Thursday At LIU

The Central Connecticut State women's basketball team (10-18, 9-6 NEC) clinched at least one home game in this season's Northeast Conference Championship Tournament on Saturday afternoon with a 76-65 victory over Wagner College on Senior Day in the Blue Devils' regular season finale.  CCSU heads to New York City to wrap up its 2024-25 regular season slate, as the squad travels to the borough of Brooklyn to face the Sharks of LIU (6-22, 3-12 NEC) on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. in the Steinberg Wellness Center.  Central clinched at least the number three seed in the 2025 NEC Championship with Saturday's win, and the Blue Devils can move up to the number two seed with a win on Thursday night at LIU and a Stonehill loss at Wagner that evening.  Depending on Thursday's other results, CCSU will host either Chicago State, Wagner or LeMoyne in the NEC Quarterfinals on Monday, March 10 at 7:00 p.m.  The Blue Devils have not hosted an NEC Championship home game since March of 2015, when Central defeated LIU in the conference quarterfinals, 72-51, before falling in overtime to St. Francis Brooklyn in the semifinals.  CCSU also played in the 2015 WNIT following the NEC Championship.  LIU enters Thursday's play on a five-game losing streak following a 76-46 home loss to NEC regular season champion, FDU, on Saturday.

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Since the 2003-04 season, LIU leads the all-time series with Central by a 25-16 margin.  Last season, the teams split their two meetings, as each school earned a road win, as the Sharks won in New Britain, 57-50, on January 21, 2024; and the Blue Devils returned the favor with a 65-56, victory in Brooklyn on February 29, 2024.  CCSU won this season's first meeting in Connecticut on January 9, 2025 by a 52-48 score.

A LOOK BACK AT SATURDAY'S WIN OVER WAGNER:

•  The Central Connecticut State women's basketball team clinched at least the third seed in this season's NEC Championship Tournament on Saturday with a 76-65 Senior Day home win over Wagner in the team's regular season home finale.  The Blue Devils shot a blistering 53 percent from the field in the third quarter, while holding the Seahawks without a point for almost eight minutes in the same frame.  For the first time this season, five Blue Devils reached double-digit scoring in the same game in Saturday's victory led by Belle Lanpher with 17 points.  Lanpher was joined in double figures by Dagny Slomack with 16, Meghan Kenefick with 12, Lucia Noin with 11 and Amaya Williams with 10 points.  Noin finished with a double-double, her third of the season, as she pulled down a game-best 10 rebounds.

THIS YEAR'S FIRST MEETING BETWEEN THE BLUE DEVILS AND SHARKS (1/9/25):

• Graduate student guard Belle Lanpher notched her second career double-double with game highs in points with 25 and rebounds with 11 to help lead the Central Connecticut State women's basketball team to a 52-48 home Northeast Conference win over the Long Island University Sharks in Detrick Gymnasium.  CCSU overcame a slow start to the game to come back for the victory, as the Sharks led 10-0 after three minutes of play.  Lanpher's classmate Meghan Kenefick played all 40 minutes for the winners in the team's first meeting of '24-25, and she contributed eight points and seven rebounds for the Blue Devils.  Sirviva Legions led LIU with 15 points, and Janessa Williams was the Sharks' top rebounder pulling down 10 boards.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITON:

•    The Sharks of Long Island University come into Thursday's action at 6-22 overall and 3-12 in Northeast Conference play.  LIU is on a five-game losing streak after a 76-46 home loss to NEC regular season champion, FDU, on Saturday.  The team's three conference wins have come against LeMoyne, Saint Francis and Wagner.
•    The Sharks are locked into the number eight slot in this season's NEC Championship Tournament.
•    Junior Sirviva Legions leads the team in scoring so far this season averaging 14.2 points per game.  She is followed by sophomore Janessa Williams at 12.0 points per outing, and Williams also leads the team in rebounding averaging 7.3 boards per game.
•   As a team, the Sharks are averaging 53.2 points and 32.1 rebounds per contest, and they are allowing the opposition 67.3 points per game plus opponents are pulling down an average of 37.5 rebounds per game.
•   LIU is led by head coach Rene Hayes, who is in her sixth season as the Sharks' leader. 

 THIS AND THAT:

•   CCSU locked up a home 2025 NEC Championship Quarterfinal game and at least the number three seed in this year's conference postseason battle with Saturday's home win over Wagner.  CCSU could move up the number two seed with a win on Thursday night and a Stonehill loss by virtue of Central sweeping this year's two game against the Skyhawks.
•   The Blue Devils have not hosted an NEC Championship home game since March of 2015, when Central defeated LIU in the conference quarterfinals, 72-51, before falling in overtime to St. Francis Brooklyn in the semifinals.  CCSU also played in the 2015 WNIT following the NEC Championship.  The Blue Devils will host either Chicago State, Wagner or LeMoyne on Monday, March 10 at 7:00 p.m. in Detrick Gymnasium. 
•  With her 17 points on Saturday, Belle Lanpher has now scored a total of 1467 career points.  Belle has reached double figures in all 18 games she has played this season and a total of 21 straight outings dating back to last season. So far this season, Lanpher is averaging a team-best 22.6 points per game. She has surpassed the 20-point plateau in 12 games this season.  She also is tied with Meghan Kenefick for the team lead in rebounding at 5.6 boards per game from her guard spot.  Lanpher was named an NEC Prime Performer this week.
•   CCSU's Top Four All-Time Women's Basketball Career Scorers: 1-Hope Linthicum (1982-87), 1,773 points, 2-Gabriella Guegbelet (2003-07), 1,700 points, 3-Belle Lanpher (2020-present), 1,467 points, 4-Kiana Patterson (2015-19), 1,410 points
•   Freshman Dagny Slomack is second on this season's CCSU scoring list averaging 8.9 points per game.   Slomack reached double-digit scoring in both of last week's games, and she has now reached double figures in 13 games during the 2024-25 season. Slomack, who has hit a team-high 45 three-point shots so far this year, was named an NEC Prime Performer this week.
 •  Graduate student Meghan Kenefick is third on the Blue Devils in scoring averaging 8.8 points per game, and she has grabbed 5.6 rebounds per outing to tie for the team lead (6.3 rpg. in NEC play).  Kenefick has now pulled down a total of 587 rebounds for her career.
•   With her 10 points on Saturday, senior Amaya Williams has now reached double-digit scoring in 11 contests so far this season.
•   Junior Lucia Noin notched her third double-double of the 2024-25 campaign with her 11-point, 10-rebound performance in Saturday's win over Wagner.
•   As a team, the Blue Devils are averaging 61.1 points per game (67.3 ppg. in NEC play) and allowing the opposition to score an average of 67.0 points per outing (65.0 in conference play).  On the glass, Central is pulling down an average of 35.4 rebounds per game; while the opposition is averaging 37.6 rebounds per contest.  Central has outrebounded its opponents in 10 of its last 14 outings.

UP NEXT:

•   Postseason women's basketball returns to Detrick Gymnasium for the first time in 10 years, when the Blue Devils host a 2025 Northeast Conference Championship Tournament Quarterfinal game on Monday, March 10 at 7:00 p.m.  CCSU will welcome one of three teams to New Britain:  Chicago State, Wagner or LeMoyne.  The NEC Championship Semifinals are set for Thursday, March 13 and the Championship Final, with an automatic NCAA bid on the line, is slated for Sunday, March 16.  All games will be hosted by the higher remaining seed in the tournament.