After dropping their opening home game earlier in the week, the Central Connecticut Women’s Basketball team lost to the UMass Lowell River Hawks on Nov. 15, 70-54.
The River Hawks improved to 2-1 on the year following a close win against Saint Anselm University earlier in the month, while Central is still searching for their first win of the season after two tough road games and a loss to Sacred Heart at home.
UMass Lowell took advantage early, as the River Hawks were lights out from beyond the arc in the first quarter, with Central standouts Kiyah Lewis and Lucia Noin being the biggest contributors offensively.
The Blue Devils took an 11-10 lead at the end of the first quarter following some deliberation from the officials regarding the time, and the home team extended their lead into the second quarter thanks to another Lewis midrange bomb.
UMass Lowell would fight back, however, as multiple shots from three would give them a 29-20 lead into the half, with Central mishandling the ball late in the quarter, lessening their grip on the lead. At halftime, the only players for Central who had scored were Noin and Lewis, and the team looked to recuperate for the second half of play.
To start the third, the River Hawks would score within 20 seconds to extend their lead to 11, with most of Central’s points in the quarter coming off fouls. Five minutes in, Na-Kyah Williams would hit a deep three, which seemed to invigorate the Blue Devil offense, as Williams would hit from behind the arc two more times with Lewis contributing as well, which cut the lead down to only six points with a quarter to play.
A Lewis and-one would further cut the lead down to just three points, but the close game would lead to more physical play as CCSU would foul the River Hawks six times in the next seven minutes, all while scoring no points of their own.
Lewis would bring the lead to 10 with another and-one, and more free throws brought it to eight, but consistent shot-making by UMass Lowell would eventually put the game away, with the dagger coming from the free throw line with 46 seconds left, as CCSU would drop to 0-4 by 16 points.
Head Coach Kristin Caruso had a lot to say following the loss and remained constructive towards her team and pointed out many positive aspects of how they played.
“Even when you look at my upperclassmen, we’re a really inexperienced team,” she said. “We’re not focused on the wins and losses right now, but we gotta be focused on growing. We’re still working on chemistry, we’re still working on a lot of things just besides Xs and Os. I think we’re going to get there, but it might take a year.”
She admitted that a big issue was that the team never played four complete quarters and that consistency needed to be ironed out.
Central’s next two games are away games against St. John’s and Pittsburgh, two basketball powerhouses in the Northeast that the Blue Devils will look to upset.
Caruso talked about the opportunities that her team missed out on.
“We have to make shots. I think we had a lot of shots today and we didn’t make them. We have work to do and I think everyone knows that.”
CCSU women’s hoops will return to the Detrick Gymnasium on Dec. 7 to take on Vermont.
