Coming off a tumultuous 7-23 season, the Blue Devils are ready to take on the Northeast Conference again, still hungry to win CCSU its first NEC title.

Central Connecticut faced one of the hardest, out-of-conference schedules in the league last year, going against juggernauts like West Virginia and Penn State early on. The tough schedule got the better of the Blue Devils, who went 0-12 in those non-conference games.

But they were still able to make it to the NEC playoffs, scrapping together seven crucial conference wins to secure the seventh seed. The Blue Devils were quickly ousted once there, losing 60-54 to second seed Robert Morris in a closely contested game.

The addition and integration of seven new players was a challenge faced early on.

“The kids weren’t here in the month of July working together, so when we came in September it was the first time they were all together as a group. Our non-conference schedule was so tough, we were trying to learn our style against West Virginia or Penn State. It’s pretty tough to be able to do the things that you want to do against those schools. Then when it came to conference play, we were still trying to find ourselves,” head coach Beryl Piper said.

This year, the Blue Devils were able to get some time in together in July, a change already noticeable for Patterson. “The month of July was so huge for us, we are so much further ahead now than we were this time last year. Now we have a good foundation and a good solid group of girls that will compete.”

This year’s team adds four more to the roster. Forever Toppin, a freshmen guard, “can really slash and get to the rim” per Piper, adding that “she’s a tough kid for people to defend.”

Freshman, Danielle Delano, looks to get back into the game after a broken leg sidelined her for her senior year of high school. For Piper, Delano is “a big kid that can shoot the ball and score for us [the team].”

Six-foot-two-inch center Carly Reynolds adds some length to the Blue Devils back court, giving the team another option in the post.

Junior Bruna Vila Artigues, a transfer from Catalonia, rounds out the list of newcomers. The addition of Vila Artigues adds another point guard to the mix, something Piper plans to take advantage of with her lineups.

“With [Patterson’s] shooting ability playing in the off-guard spot, then on top of that everything she learned playing point last year, it’s gonna be like playing with two point guards on the court. Bruna will surprise people. She knows how to distribute the basketball and will do some good things for us,” Piper said.

No matter what the new additions might bring to the table, according to Piper, “they’re not just going to come in and play.”

“We have other kids that have a little better understanding defensively and offensively of what we’re doing,” she said. “I do believe as the season goes along, they’re going to play and there’s going to be some games they make a difference in. We have so many upperclassmen right now that it’s not like we have to rely on the young kids to get it done for us.”

For Patterson, the goal remains the same.

“Get to the NEC championship and win the school its first NEC title,” Patterson said.

Still focused on the long season ahead, Patterson said: “another goal we have is to compete and win some non-conference games to get our confidence up. We want a good record and good chemistry going into conference play so it’s that much easier for us when we are playing games that are really important.” 

Lydon doubles down on Patterson’s big postseason dreams.

“A big overarching goal we have as a team is to just prove people wrong,” Lydon said. “The preseason doesn’t matter to us, it matters how you finish the season, and I know we want to finish with an NEC Championship. Everyone knows that we all have to step up in order to be successful and we are all really excited about that.“