Women's Basketball Tops Hofstra at the Buzzer

With four seconds remaining on the clock, senior Jessica Babe grabbed an inbound pass dribbled the court and found sophomore Nicole Ferguson open in the corner for a game-winning jumper as time expired. Ferguson's buzzer-beater gave the Blue Devils (6-4) a 64-62 victory over the Hofstra Pride (4-6) in a Monday afternoon game at Detrick Gym.

Watch: Ferguson's Game-Winner

The Blue Devils and Pride were tied three times over the final 2:08 of regulation, but CCSU never allowed Hofstra to take the lead.

Senior Lauren Arbogast connected on a three pointer from the corner with 1:06 remaining to break the second tie of the final two minutes and give the Blue Devils a 61-58 lead. Hofstra countered with a jumper and then fouled CCSU's Kayla Miller with five seconds left to play.  Miller hit the first free throw to put CCSU up by two, but missed the second and Blue Devil sophomore TeJahne Malone was whistled for a foul trying to grab the rebound with four seconds remaining.  Hofstra hit both free throws to tie the game at 62-62.  On the ensuing possession Ferguson hit the game-winner at the buzzer.

Junior Kaley Watras finished with a game-high 22 points on 7-of-10 shooting.  Her strong finish to the first half helped spark the Blue Devils in the opening period.  Watras scored eight of her 13 first half points over the final six minutes of the period.

Junior Johnna Fisher was stong off the bench for the Blue Devils scoring 11 points with six coming over the final six minutes of the first half.  Fisher and Watras combined to score 14 of CCSU's final 16 points in the opening period.

After trailing for the final 10 minutes of the first half, the Blue Devils grabbed the lead just 11 seconds into the second period on a three by Watras.  A three by Arbogast on the next Blue Devil possession put CCSU in front by four points a minute into the period.

A short jumper by Fisher gave CCSU a 48-39 lead with 10:14 left to play.  The nine point advantage was the largest of the game for the Blue Devils.

Following the Fisher jumper, Hofstra chipped away with a 6-0 run, but CCSU maintained the lead until the 2:08 mark in the period.

The Blue Devils shot 45.1% (23-51) from the field and were 5-of-17 from behind the three point arc.  However, CCSU did struggle at the free throw line as they connected on just 13-of-25 attempts.

CCSU also received great production from their bench with Fisher, Miller and Malone all seeing 22 minutes of action in the game.  Fisher connected for 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting, while also grabbing six rebounds, blocking two shots and recoding three steals.  Malone grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and dropped in four points on two shots.  She also had three assists and a pair of blocks.  Miller contributed four points and four rebounds.

Babe's pass to Ferguson for the winner was her sixth assist of the game.  She also had seven points and four rebounds in 40 minutes of action.

Arbogast scored 10 points, but was limited to just 15 minutes of action by foul trouble.

Ferguson's game-winner was her only basket of the game.  She finished the day 1-of-4 from the field.

Hofstra was led by Anma Onyeuku's double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds.

The Blue Devils open Northeast Conference play on Saturday at Detrick Gym.  Robert Morris, the preseason favorite in the NEC, will visit New Britain for a 1 p.m. tip-off.