By Nicholas Proch
Early morning snow did not stop the Sacred Heart fans from “packing the Pitt” for the first game of the women’s and men’s basketball doubleheader against CCSU, which helped the home team to a 63-57 win over the Blue Devils.
The Blue Devils (9-9, 3-5 NEC) matched the Pioneer’s (13-4, 6-0 NEC) skilled players with their physical play at the beginning of the first half, but capitalizing on turnovers helped Sacred Heart go into halftime with a ten-point lead, 34-24.
CCSU gave up 12 turnovers in the first half which Sacred Heart turned into 10 points.
“It was like a ‘panic.’ Instead of us believing in ourselves and taking care of the basketball and being aggressive, we were playing passive,” said Head Coach Beryl Piper after the game. “That’s something I told to them at halftime.”
Strong shooting performances from the Babe sisters, Jacyln and Jessica, kept CCSU in the game going into halftime. Both sisters had nine points at the break, a total which they did not add to in the second half.
The team played with a new focus after coming out of the locker room for the final 20 minutes. Led by junior center Kirsten Daamen, who had 14 of her 16 total points in the second half, the Blue Devils reclaimed the lead with nine minutes left in the game. Sophomore forward Lauren Arbogast added nine second-half points, out of a total of 11 for the game.
“In the second half we decided that we needed to be the aggressors and that was something that we had talked about during practice this week, too,” said Piper. “We weren’t doing that in the first half, and in the second we were getting to the rim and were able to be aggressive and put the pressure on them like they were in the first.”
As quickly as the Blue Devils had gained the momentum, they lost it as sophomore Jessica Babe hit the floor grimacing in pain with 7:45 remaining. With nine points and 11 rebounds to that point, her presence on the court was immediately missed. The coaches knew the injury was serious.
“She’s tough, when a kid like her goes down like that she’s probably coming out of the game because she’s not going to sit down and beg to be out ever,” said Piper. “It’s bad.” Her injury will be something that the team evaluates this week.
The Pioneers were able to control the tempo of the game with Babe off the court and, with about 1:30 left to play, they took a 59-57 lead. From there it was only a matter of running out the clock and not giving up a costly turnover.
Sacred Heart was able to do so and finished out the game with a 63-57 victory. The Pioneers remain perfect in NEC play and hold a strong command over the field as they continue down the stretch of their season.
With this loss, the Blue Devils fall to 2-5 in the NEC as they remain close to the bottom of the conference standings. They play Farleigh-Dickenson and Monmouth at home on Saturday and Monday, respectively. The Blue Devils will look to knock both teams out of the top half of the NEC standings.
“The last three games that this team has played have been more consistent. That’s a huge factor. We shot the ball well from the free-throw line [16-20] and pretty consistent throughout the game,” said Piper. “We have to keep playing aggressive and stop being passive, we can’t let the other team keep forcing us into mistakes and that’s something that you have to work on with a young team like this one.”
The Blue Devils beat the Bryant Bull Dogs on the road Monday Night 75-62 without the help of Jessica Babe who is still injured and will look to extend the win streak to two on Saturday at 1 p.m.
