By Jose Campos
The CCSU women’s basketball team gained a big win at home against LIU Brooklyn with a final score of 63-54 Wednesday evening. The win was led by junior Jessica Babe who had 13 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists. Central (13-2, 7-7) is on a two-game winning streak after a close loss to Mount St. Mary.
The LIU Blackbirds are 5-20 for the season with the loss, and have a 2-12 record in NEC play. The game was a make-up due to the snow cancellations.
“The stretch has been really tough with the play and break, play and break, where every game is huge for us,” said Head Coach Beryl Piper.
The Blue Devils took off from the opening tip with a 7-0 lead and had their best half of the season. CCSU shot 43.6 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from behind the arc for the half while managing to only give up two turnovers. Sophomore Kaley Watras and senior Kirsten Daamen each contributed ten points in the first half. Jessica Babe also dished in five points, seven rebounds and six assists. The Devils not only had a great offensive half with 38 points, but also played great defense, limiting the Blackbirds to only 19 points.
CCSU opened up the second half strong pushing the lead to 23 points, the largest margin of the game. The Blue Devils led by 21 points with less than eight minutes to go in the game until LIU went on a 15-0 run, a run that lasted five minutes and was led by sophomore Honor Duvall. The Blackbirds cut the lead to only six points with CCSU up 58-52.
“Thought the kids came out with good energy in the first half,” said Piper. “But we need to be able to sustain that for the whole 40 minutes, otherwise our athletic director will have a heartache.”
In the end, CCSU had the final run with five points, beating LIU Brooklyn 63-54. Daamen finished with 18 points, leading the Blue Devils in scoring while Jessica Babe lead the team in rebounds and assists with eight and eight.
Watras shot well from behind the arc, finishing with four three pointers and 16 points for the game. Jaclyn Babe recently scored her 1,000th-point but was forced to miss the last game because of an elbow injury. She played 26 minutes in her return at home and chipped in four points. Watras, Daamen, and juniors Lauren Arbogast and Jallen Thomas all had four rebounds.
The Blue Devils face NEC rival Bryant on the road Saturday at 1 pm. The game starts off a two-game road trip.
