The Central Connecticut State University women’s basketball team’s season came to an end with a 70-60 loss to the Chicago State University Cougars on Monday, March 10, at Detrick Gymnasium. They ended their season with an 11-19 overall record.
Three players on the Central team scored in double figures during the game. Freshman guard Dagny Slomack led the team with 16 points on 6 of 12 shooting from the field and 3 of 6 from 3-point range. Senior guard Belle Lanpher was right behind her with 15 points, four rebounds and two assists, and junior forward Lucia Noin had 13 points and seven rebounds.
Interim Head Coach Kristin Caruso said she was proud of Slomack’s performance despite the loss.
“Dagny stepped up and made shots at the end,” she said. “I think she was 1 for 5 going into the second half. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough, but she played great. Dagney is a great player. She is an all-around player. The only thing I wish I could do is help her grow a couple inches over the summer.”
With 15 points, Lanpher has scored in double figures in all 20 games that she’s played this season, ending the year with a total of 1506 career points. Belle finished the first quarter with seven points, two rebounds and two steals.
“It was a tough 15 [points]. Very tough,” Caruso said. “[Lanpher] had to work hard on every passion because [the Cougars] are so big, and they out matched us so much. I mean by four to five inches sometimes when they had brought in their big guards.”
Senior guard Amaya Williams started the second quarter for Central going to the foul line and making a free throw. Noin followed that up with a layup and then scored a jump shot. Williams went back to the line and made another free throw, and Slomack made a layup, tying the game at 18-18. Central took the lead at 21-20 after a 3-pointer by junior guard Cierra Pearson. Lucia made another jump shot and Central ended the half down 25-23.
Senior forward Meghan Kenefick would score a 3-pointer in the third quarter of the game assisted by Lanpher. She would score another 3-pointer later in the quarter followed by Slomack with a layup and Lanpher with a jump shot. Despite this, the Blue Devils found themselves down 44-33 going into the final 10 minutes.
The fourth and final quarter saw Lanpher scoring a jump shot and Noin making a layup. Sophomore forward Kayla Henry would score her first points with a layup and Noin scored two more points by tipping the ball in after a missed 3-pointer. Slomack got fouled and went to the line and made a free throw. Slomack went 3 of 4 from 3-point range, 4 of 6 from the field and 1 of 2 from the free throw line. Noin went 3 of 6 from the field and 1 of 2 from the foul line. Despite their performance, the Blue Devils couldn’t cut into the Cougar’s lead and lost 70-60.
