A massive fourth quarter, spearheaded by freshman forward Selina Monestime’s 12 second-half points, helped the Central women’s basketball team rally to defeat the Stonehill Skyhawks 71-59 on Saturday afternoon at Detrick Gymnasium.
The Blue Devils spent over 22 consecutive minutes of the game behind before freshman guard Dagny Slomack hit a 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter, kickstarting a 15-0 run that would see Central take control of the contest in its most crucial phase. Monestime exploded for 10 of the Blue Devils’ points during that run, eight of which were scored in just 70 seconds.
“I felt great,” Monestime said. “I felt like this whole game, we were all just more hungry, more passionate, like we wanted to fight with everything in our body, and I think we need to do that every single game. Home game, obviously, there’s pride involved too.”
Monestime finished the game with 16 points, two points off her career-high 18 points against Manhattan University back on Nov. 7, 2024. On top of her offense, she also had 6 rebounds and 3 steals.
Graduate guard Belle Lanpher led all scorers with 26 points—her sixth straight game with at least 20—moving her up to third place on Central’s all-time women’s basketball scoring list, with 1,314 career points. Lanpher started the game in fifth place, with 1,288 points, and is now only 97 points away from moving into the second spot.
“I mean, it’s cool. I’m not really keeping track of my points. My dad does more of that,” Lanpher said, laughing. “I’m just happy we won. I could score 0 points, I could have the worst game of my life, but if we come up with the win, we come up with a win. That’s what I’m happy about.”
Head Coach Kristin Caruso emphasized Lanpher’s importance to the team.
“She’s a great player,” Caruso said, “smart kid, and she’s hard to guard because she can do everything. So, obviously, we’re grateful for her.”
Both Central and Stonehill came into Saturday’s matchup having won their previous games. The Blue Devils blew out Le Moyne 64-45 at home last Saturday, improving their record in Northeast Conference play to 4-3. On the same day, the Skyhawks scraped by Chicago State with a 66-64 away win, improving their record in the NEC to 5-2.
The first quarter of the game was a back-and-forth affair, with four ties and two lead changes. Both teams would hold each other scoreless at 15-15 for over three minutes until Stonehill knocked down a 3-pointer with two seconds left, giving the Skyhawks an 18-15 lead going into the second quarter.
Stonehill began to run away with it in the second, going on an 8-2 run in the first few minutes and pushing their lead to 28-17 with 6:19 to go. The Blue Devils would try to cut into the Skyhawks’ lead, but still found themselves down seven at 35-28 going into halftime.
The visitors committed 10 turnovers in the first half of the game, compared to Central’s four. Despite this, the Skyhawks’ hot 3-point shooting (6-of-10) helped make up for their sloppy play. Stonehill guard Brooke Paquette led all scorers at the half with 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting, 3-of-3 from beyond the arc, while dishing out 5 assists. Central was led at the half by Lanpher, who had 10 points, followed by senior guard Amaya Williams with 9 points.
The third quarter was a tug of war, with Central unable to cut the deficit below four and Stonehill unable to extend its lead beyond nine. Still, the Blue Devils outscored the Skyhawks 15-13 in the period, which, combined with a 6-2 run by Central in the last 3:35, meant the game was still a toss-up going into the final 10 minutes.
Monestime opened the final quarter with a layup, cutting Stonehill’s lead to 48-45. Less than a minute later, freshman guard Jessica Farrell added another layup, trimming the deficit to one and forcing a Skyhawks timeout. After graduate forward Meghan Kenefick blocked a Stonehill shot, Monestime drove into the paint for another layup, putting the Blue Devils ahead 49-48—their first lead since the 4:35 mark of the first quarter—sending Detrick Gymnasium into an uproar. The surge continued, as Monestime poured in six more consecutive points, extending Central’s lead to 55-48.
Between the 7:53 and 6:43 mark of the fourth quarter—a span of just 70 seconds—Monestime erupted for eight straight points, flipping the game on its head. She had just 4 points at halftime, but took over in the second half, fueling Central’s turnaround.
After missing several games earlier this month due to an injury, Caruso believes Monestime’s recent performance proves she’s finally healthy.
“We knew Selina had it in her,” Caruso said. “She just had to get back from the injury and get in better shape. We know that she’s as good as she is. So, we welcomed her back today.”
The Skyhawks, who hadn’t scored since the tail end of the third quarter, responded with a layup to make it 55-50 with 6:32 left. Both teams traded buckets over the next several minutes, with Stonehill getting as close as four points, but a 14-6 run by Central in the final minutes shut the door on the Skyhawks, and the Blue Devils won 71-59.
The Blue Devils dominated the fourth quarter, outscoring Stonehill 28-11.
Central ended the game with three players in double figures. Lanpher led the Blue Devils with 26 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. She was followed by Monestime with 16 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals, while Williams had 11 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.
Central’s defense stood out in the box score, with Stonehill turning the ball over 19 times while the Blue Devils had a season-low seven turnovers. Central capitalized on the Skyhawks’ sloppy play, picking off 12 steals and scoring 21 points off turnovers. The one area where the Blue Devils struggled was on the boards where they were outrebounded 45-38.
In terms of offense, Central managed to improve its overall shooting from 35.5% in the first half to 43.1% in the second, while Stonehill dropped from 45.2% to 34.9%. Even the 3-pointer turned against the visitors who went from shooting 60% in the first half to only shooting 37.5% in the second. On the other hand, the Blue Devils increased their 3-point shooting percentage from 33.3% in the first half to 40% in the second.
Caruso attributed the team’s second-half turnaround to the players remembering their strategy going into the game.
“They followed our game plan to the tee. We lost sight of it in the first half a little bit, but we got it back in the second half. We’ve been talking about getting good shots on offense, and we did that the whole second half. So, I’m super proud of them.”
She added that for the team to keep winning, it was important for new players, particularly those coming off the bench, to perform like they did against Stonehill.
“We won the last two quarters, which is what we told them we had to do at halftime,” Caruso said. “We made some adjustments, and then we had people step up. Selina played great. Jess came off the bench and played great. We had a lot of people step up tonight, and that’s what we’re going to have to do to be successful.”
With the victory, Central improved its record to 5-3 in conference play and 6-15 overall, while Stonehill fell to 5-3 in the conference and 9-12 overall. The Blue Devils finish out their final game of a three-game homestand on Thursday, Feb. 6 at 4 p.m. when they take on FDU.
