A wild game of basketball on Thursday evening between the Central Connecticut State women’s basketball team and the Chicago State Cougars ended in a controversial 62-61 victory for the Blue Devils. The win was Central’s second straight after an overtime thriller at St. Francis on Feb. 15, and the team now sits fourth in the Northeast Conference. 

Graduate guard Belle Lanpher had game-highs in points with 19 and assists with eight, while also pulling down seven rebounds. Graduate forward Meghan Kenefick and junior forward Lucia Noin each contributed thirteen points and senior guard Amaya Williams had 10 points. Henry and Noin also led the team in rebounds with nine and 11 respectively.  

Lanpher put Central on the board to start the game after two minutes of offensive standstill. Within the first six minutes, CCSU had taken a 9-2 lead, although Chicago State would quickly reel the lead back with three-point efficiency. Noin would score the final points of the quarter as CSU led 17-12. 

The lackluster offensive production that was present in the latter half of the first quarter continued into the second, however Lanpher and Noin would turn the team around with contributions from Amaya Williams. Henry would nail two layups to boost the CCSU score before the end of the half, with the Blue Devils only trailing by two, 33-31. 

Starting the second half, both teams remained equally matched until Central started pulling away after around four minutes. Kenefick was electric in the paint, with Lanpher and Williams adding to the score, and the third quarter ended 52-47 in favor of the Blue Devils.  

Upon resumption of play, the Cougars drained a 3 to trim the lead to two. After a Kenefick layup, Chicago State rallied with two more 3-point shots to take the lead with six minutes remaining.  

Noin and Kenefick scored to help Central regain the lead with just under five minutes left, however the close nature of the game meant that the final portion of the game featured anxious basketball from both squads. Neither team scored for three minutes until Evangelina Parrish of CSU made a layup that was immediately counteracted by Williams 20 seconds later.  

CSU tied it at 60 with only 43 seconds remaining, whereafter multiple turnovers from either side eventually led to a foul on Kayla Henry, who sank two free throws to take a 62-60 lead. However, the game was not over, and with fourteen seconds remaining on the clock, Chicago State tried their hardest to win or send the game to overtime.  

With just 1.5 seconds remaining, a botched CSU offensive rebound seemed like it was knocked out of bounds, but upon further review, Kenefick was found to have touched the ball last. Chicago State inbounded the pass for a game-tying buzzer beater from Lucia Allen, which was no good and seemed to end the game. However, the officials called a controversial foul on Belle Lanpher, who got physical with Allen as the shot went up.  

Allen took to the foul line with two shots that would have sent the game to overtime. The first went in, and the second veered off by a hair, bounced off the rim, and was no good. Detrick Gymnasium erupted as Central inbounded and ran out the clock, taking the one-point victory. 

The Blue Devils’ victory moved them to fourth place in the NEC with four games remaining.  

Although the game was a close-fought duel from whistle to whistle, Head Coach Kristin Caruso had positive things to say about the team’s performance.  

“We grinded it out,” she said. “They’re obviously a bigger team than us. They outmatch our guards by a couple inches, and they’re a tough matchup for us.”  

Caruso made note of the team’s high number of turnovers and missed shots during the game. 

“We had some issues offensively, which hurt us,” she said. “We’ve been shooting the ball better, so I think that obviously hurt us a little bit. That’s why it was a close game.” 

Caruso also spoke on the importance of outrebounding the opposition, saying that whenever Central can pull down more boards, they can take home the victory. 

Caruso said that she didn’t see the ending of the match as controversial, adding that the result was all that mattered.  

“In ten years, no one’s going to wonder what happened in the game. “They’re going to say we won.” 

Noin logged her second consecutive double-double performance on Thursday, as she compounded her 13 points with 11 rebounds.   

“We fought through the whole game,” she said. 

Noin also emphasized the importance of not wavering in the last matches of the season.  

“This is the final stretch, so I’m trying to give everything that I can,” she said. “It’s important for us that we win every game. So, I’m just trying to put energy out there and do my best.” 

Henry made the final two buckets of the game with 14 seconds remaining and said that she felt confident on the court.  

“Obviously it wasn’t going our way at one point,” she said, “but we’re a tough team, and we fight back every time.”  

Henry talked about the number of fouls during the game, saying that the team tries not to focus on decisions by the referees. 

Specifically talking about her dagger near the end of the game, Henry was positive about her performance and what it meant for her teammates. 

“I think I’ve been struggling with free throws,” she said, “so, it was good to finally make two, especially when it counted. It definitely added energy to the team, and we knew we had it in the bag.” 

With the victory, Central improved its record in conference play to 8-5 and 9-17 overall. With only four games left in the regular season, the Blue Devils will hit the road for their next game against Le Moyne on Thursday, Feb. 27. They return to New Britain for their final home game against Wagner on Saturday, March 1.