For the first time this season, the Central women’s basketball team has won back-to-back games after defeating Northeast Conference rivals Long Island University 52-48 at home on Thursday night. The win gave the Blue Devils their third victory of the season and their second in conference play.
After a dominant 78-52 win over Mercyhurst on Saturday, Central looked to finish strong in its final game of a three-game homestand before hitting the road. Their opponents, the LIU Sharks, were coming off of a 64-59 loss to Chicago State on Saturday.
Unlike the balanced scoring display in their last game, the Blue Devils’ offense against LIU was largely carried by graduate guard Belle Lanpher. She notched her second career double-double, leading all players with 25 points and 11 rebounds—both crucial to securing Central’s win.
“I have to obviously give credit to my teammates,” Lanpher said. “They’re the ones that get me open with screens. They’re the ones that cut hard, and then [the] defense goes to them, and then I’m left open. Rebounds, it’s just effort, and I wanted to get more rebounds to give my team more opportunities.”
Lanpher, who missed the first 10 games of the season due to injury, has been a key factor in the Blue Devils’ recent turnaround. Central went 1-9 in her absence but is 2-4 in the six games since her return. In that stretch, Lanpher has averaged 18.3 points per game.
“I’m proud of us,” Lanpher said. “It sucked being out, but my team always was there for me, and when I came back, they welcomed me back with open arms. They were right behind me…getting me back in and were just ready to play together. And that’s what we’re going to keep doing.”
The Sharks started the game hot, taking a 10-0 lead in the first three minutes before going cold for the rest of the first quarter. It took the Blue Devils until the 6:04 mark to score their first points, beginning a 9-0 run that brought them to within a point going into the second quarter.
Central continued its surge into the next period, building a 14-10 lead. The Sharks, who had been held scoreless since the 7:00 mark of the first quarter, finally broke their cold streak with a three-pointer four minutes into the second. Despite LIU briefly taking the lead, the Blue Devils went into halftime ahead, 23-18.
Lanpher led all scorers in the half with 8 points and led Central in rebounding with four. The Blue Devils forced the Sharks into 12 turnovers during the first half, scoring 12 points off those mistakes.
To start the second half, graduate forward Meghan Kenefick scored four consecutive points, extending Central’s lead to 27-18. Later, a pair of free throws by Lanpher at the 5:51 mark of the third quarter stretched the Blue Devils’ advantage to 14 points at 34-20—the largest lead by either team in the game. While the Sharks managed to cut the deficit to 10, a last-second three-pointer from freshmen guard Dagny Slomack sent Central into the final quarter with a 41-28 lead.
LIU opened the fourth quarter with an 11-3 run, trimming Central’s lead to five and reigniting the contest with 4:36 remaining. With 31 seconds left, the Sharks connected on a three-pointer to cut the lead to three, forcing the Blue Devils to call a timeout.
Following the timeout, Lanpher made back-to-back trips to the free throw line, converting 3 of 4 attempts to push Central’s lead back up to six. Despite a last-second layup by the Sharks, the Blue Devils closed out the win, 52-48.
Central’s win against LIU can be attributed to their strong performance at the foul line. The Blue Devils converted 17 of their 21 total free-throw attempts, while the Sharks made just 5 of their 6. Lanpher accounted for 11 of Central’s 17 made free throws, going 11 of 12 from the line, with her final three proving to be the most crucial.
“Free throws are always an emphasis,” Lanpher said. “They’re free shots, so we’ve got to take advantage of it when we’re driving hard and people are fouling us. We’ve got to make those free throws because it’s free points.”
Both teams struggled from beyond the arc, with the Sharks making just 5 of their 32 three-point attempts, or 15.6%, and the Blue Devils hitting 3 of their 19 attempts, or 15.8%. Central also edged out LIU in overall shooting, with the Blue Devils making 16 of 52 attempts, or 30.8%, compared to the Sharks 19 of 66, or 28.8%.
Central’s victory improved its overall record to 3-13 and its record in conference play to 2-1. The Blue Devils now begin a three-game road trip, starting with Wagner on Saturday, Jan. 11, followed by a game against FDU on Saturday, Jan. 18 and concluding with Chicago State on Thursday, Jan. 23.
