By Christopher McLaughlin
Despite leading at the half, the CCSU women’s basketball team was defeated by NEC rival Long Island University 63-51 on Jan. 8.
The Blue Devils offense went stagnant in the second half and LIU was able to capitalize. Following the loss CCSU dropped to 7-6 overall and 0-3 in NEC play.
“We’re obviously disappointed, but we can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We have to continue to work hard and stay positive.” said Head Coach Beryl Piper.
While the opening minutes saw LIU jump out to a five-point lead, it was quickly erased. A three-pointer by Alexzandria Dowdy cut into the lead before Kerrianne Dugan took over. Dugan hit three straight baskets to give the Blue Devils a lead that they would hold on to for the rest of the half.
Dugan led all scorers in the first half with 13 points on 5-8 shooting and finished with 16. CCSU lead by as many as 11 points before LIU started to creep back in the game. With just under three minutes left in the half LIU began a 9-0 run that not only cut the Blue Devil lead to one, but swung the momentum back in its favor.
The run was led by Ashley Palmer, who had five points and an assist during the stretch. She finished with 11 for the half and 18 for the game. A Leanne Crockett three-pointer with 10 seconds left put the Blue Devils up 30-26, but it was the team’s first points in over three minutes.
“I don’t think that an 11-point lead is ever safe,” said Piper. “We didn’t do the little things and to their credit they did what they needed to do.”
While the Blue Devils shot 48 percent in the first half it seemed a brick wall went over the basket in the second as the team shot only 21 percent. CCSU maintained the lead up until the 11 minute mark when a three pointer by Heidi Mothershead tied it.
The LIU lead built up slowly but it was held for the rest of the game as the Blue Devils struggled with the shot. CCSU went over six minutes without a point and then only scored on free throws.
The Blue Devils went almost 12 minutes without a field goal as the entire team went ice cold. With all of the misses, the Blue Devils collected 14 offensive rebounds in the second half, but were still unable to put the ball in the basket.
Thirteen second half turnovers also prevented the CCSU from getting back into any kind of rhythm and LIU made them pay. The Blue Devils were able to pick up 8 points in garbage time to make the score respectable, but it was too little too late.
“We killed ourselves on turnovers and bad shots,” said Dugan. “It had nothing to do with what they were doing, we did it to ourselves.”
Since the Blue Devils play St. Francis (NY) on Monday, CCSU will need to rebound from this loss quickly. Though the loss was disappointing, Coach Piper knows this isn’t the performance her team normally puts on.
“We just couldn’t put the ball in the basket. We had 17 offensive rebounds and what did we do with them,” said Piper. “We can’t think about the loss, we just have to keep shooting and keep believing. We have to put this behind us and prepare for Monday.”
The Blue Devils will look to prove this game was an aberration when they play St. Francis on Monday before heading back out on the road. CCSU is in the heart of conference play, so every game will be very important to increase the chances of winning the NEC.