On a snowed-in Thursday afternoon at Central Connecticut State University, the Blue Devils women’s basketball team hosted the Farleigh Dickinson University Knights in the first half of a doubleheader, with the men’s teams also set to face off later that night. Despite a close battle, FDU defeated CCSU 61-52 and won their eighth victory in Northeast Conference play.
League leaders FDU came into the game with a perfect 7-0 record after defeating Mercyhurst 75-45 on Saturday, Feb. 1, while Central took the victory in their last two home contests against Stonehill and Le Moyne. The game against FDU was also notable as it featured a head-to-head matchup between the co-winners of the previous week’s NEC/Atlantic Tomorrow’s Office Player of the Week, Blue Devils’ graduate guard Belle Lanpher and the Knights’ Ava Renninger.
The game tipped off with a slow offensive start, as neither team could get on the board in the first two minutes. FDU made a layup at the 7:35 mark to open the scoring, but it took CCSU another two minutes to get its first points. From there, the scoring would begin to ramp up, and both teams ended the quarter tied at 11-11.
Freshman forward Selina Monestime got the second quarter going for Central, scoring three points in the first minute, while graduate forward Meghan Kenefick hit a jump shot to extend CCSU’s lead to 16-11. Renninger and FDU would attempt to battle back, but steady scoring by Monestime, Lanpher and freshman guard Dagny Slomack allowed the Blue Devils to maintain the advantage midway through the quarter.
The Knights would eventually break Central’s stranglehold on the game, going on a 10-1 run to take a 23-22 lead with 4:18 left in the half. Lanpher hit a buzzer beating layup to keep the game tied at 26-26 heading into halftime.
Slomack opened the scoring in the third quarter for the Blue Devils before both teams began trading buckets, keeping each other tied at 36-36 with four minutes remaining. However, multiple turnovers and missed shots by Central allowed FDU to take a 44-38 lead going into the final 10 minutes. CCSU only scored nine points in the third quarter while FDU had 15.
The Knights’ momentum didn’t waver in the fourth quarter as they went on a 7-2 run to take a 51-40 lead over the Blue Devils with 4:55 remaining. From there, Central desperately tried to fight its way back into the game but never got as close as seven points. Two layups by senior guard Amaya Williams in the final forty seconds would be no more than pity points as FDU closed the contest out at 61-52, continuing its perfect run.
With the defeat, the Blue Devils’ two-game winning streak came to an end, falling to 5-4 in league play and 6-16 overall this season.
The game was noted for it’s close nature in the first three quarters. By the end of the match, the lead had swapped hands ten times, and both teams tied seven times.
Central only had two players in double figures, Lanpher and Monestime. Lanpher led the way for the Blue Devils with her team-high 14 points and eight rebounds, while also adding four assists. Backing her up was Monestime who dropped 13 points and had four blocks.
Head Coach Kristin Caruso said that despite losing, the team achieved much of what they set out to do defensively.
“We pretty much did follow our gameplan,” Caruso said. “We wanted to take the 3 away and box out and get rebounds.”
Caruso added that she was surprised by the number of shots her team missed close to the basket.
“I don’t think I’ve seen us miss that many layups,” Caruso said. “We didn’t take a lot of bad shots. We rushed some, but offensively, we didn’t get it done.”
Despite the team’s struggles during the game, Caruso saw a silver lining in the way her team competed against the current best team in the NEC.
“We held them under their average, which is what we wanted to do,” Caruso said. “We played hard and competed.”
The defeat to FDU was the last game of a three-game homestand for Central who will now hit the road for their next two matches. Caruso said that the team will look to work on their offense before facing their next opponent.
“We’re going to continue to have that defensive mentality, which is what we’ve been doing,” Caruso said. “We’ve got to tighten our offense a little bit and make shots, but they’re going to get some rest and go on the road and attack.”
The road trip for the women’s basketball team will consist of two games at Mercyhurst on Thursday, Feb. 13, and St. Francis on Saturday, Feb. 15, before returning to Detrick Gymnasium on Thursday, Feb. 20, to take on Chicago State.
