The season is off to a familiar start for Central Connecticut’s women’s basketball team. On the heels of a season where they failed to win a non-conference contest, the Blue Devils find themselves winless through four games on this young season.

They were unable to get off the snide when they traveled to Rutgers and Massachusetts last week. Both losses shared a common theme: a lack of offense.

In the contest against Rutgers, all 13 Blue Devils saw minutes, but only six of them scored, with only three of them making field goals. Senior guard Kiana Patterson had a strong game, scoring 25 points on 9/16 shooting.

Senior center, Denisha Gardner scored six points and two made field goals. And while fellow senior forward Andi Lydon also had six points of her own, she failed to connect on eight field goals, with all her points coming from the free throw line.

All in all, the Blue Devils connected on just 13 field goals, shooting a meager 27 percent, prompting the 73-44 defeat.

The team showed better in their game against UMass, managing 59 points. This all happened with Patterson scoring only nine points. Though not finding the hoop as often, Patterson still found a way to contribute to the offense, dishing out seven assists. As a team, the Blue Devils had 18 assists on the game compared to just six against Rutgers.

The star of this game was sophomore guard Emma McCamus, who scored a career-high 16 points on 50 percent shooting, including two threes. Lydon also bounced back with 16 points of her own while bringing in six rebounds.

Though only contributing six points, sophomore center, Ashley Berube had her most effective game since the season opener against Brown. Berube stuffed the stat sheet, bringing in 12 boards with five of them coming on the offensive glass. She also dished out two assists to go with two steals and a block.

Sophomore forward Ashley Forker also connected on two threes, scoring more points than the previous three games combined.

Though they improved, the Blue Devils still shot just 31 percent from the floor and 22 percent from beyond the arc. Following four games, they are shooting just 32 percent from the floor and 25 percent from three.

Though Northeast Conference games will ultimately determine the team’s fate, head coach Beryl Piper and Patterson entered the season with high expectations for the non-conference slate.

“I think we want to compete and win some non-conference games and get our confidence up and have a good record and good chemistry going into conference games so it’s that much easier for us when we’re playing the games that are really important and that will decide our fate,” Patterson said prior to the season.

The Blue Devils’ next contest was held on Monday, Nov. 26 going up against Morgan State. When the two teams met at Detrick Gymnasium last year, the Bears bested the Blue Devils by a score of 61-41, a season-low for the team. What was perhaps most notable about that game was that the first points were scored with just over four minutes remaining in the first quarter.

The team will look to improve on their overall offensive output and secure their first win on the season.