By Tom Liljedahl

In a hard fought back and forth game, the CCSU women’s basketball team defeated Mount St. Mary’s 57-49 on Monday night, capturing a fifth consecutive win, and improving their record to 13-7,  6-4 in the NEC.

After a sluggish start, where scoring was at a premium, the Blue Devils came to life towards the end of the first half. Alexzandria Dowdy, who had 18 points, six rebounds and three assists in 38 minutes, hit a three-pointer, cutting Mount St. Mary’s lead to 23-21.

After a key turnover by the CCSU defense, Jaleen Thomas nailed her only shot attempt of the night, a three, as time expired in the first half, drawing the score even at 24.

“We needed that big time going into halftime,” said coach Beryl Piper of the shot.

The shot seemed to revitalize the Blue Devils, as the team came out in the second half with a greater level of intensity, particularly at the defensive end.

“When we went into the locker room our coach told us we needed to get it together intensity wise and know that we’re doing our defense as a team and not separately, I think that’s what picked us up,” said Alexzandria Dowdy.

The tenacious Blue Devil defense held Mount St. Mary’s to a mere 27.8 percent field goal percentage in the second half, and just 49 points for the entire game.

“Again, you know, defense wins it for us. Our defense does a lot for us, “said Piper.

Though defense may have won it for CCSU, knocking down shots at the offensive end also played a part in the victory.

Trailing 38-30 with 12 minutes to go, Leanne Crockett provided a spark, hitting two crucial threes to put CCSU up 39-38. Dowdy then provided the dagger, swishing a three with two and a half minutes to play, and opening up a 51-47 lead, which they never relinquished.

“I think we had better ball movement in the second half,” said Piper. “We started to understand that we couldn’t just force it inside.”

The offense was not magnificent in the second half, but the team hit four timely three-pointers, and managed to get buckets when they needed them.

“It was a gutsy effort,” said Piper after the game.

Piper also admitted that the team had not come out ready to play at the start of the game, and were “lucky” to get a win.

Nonetheless, it is a fifth straight win for the Blue Devils, and CCSU sits a mere two games back of Robert Morris and St. Francis in the NEC, who happen to be the team’s next two opponents.

The Blue Devils play at Robert Morris on Saturday, Feb. 5 at 4 p.m., and at St. Francis on Monday, Feb. 7, at 7 p.m.