Women's Basketball Falls to #21 Syracuse

The Central Connecticut women's basketball team fell to nationally ranked Syracuse on Tuesday night at the Carrier Dome.  The Blue Devils (4-7) stayed with the #21 Orange (10-3) early in the game, but Syracuse pulled away for the 74-43 victory.

The Blue Devils trailed by six points with 2:55 left in the first half, but the Orange closed the period with a 10-0 run to take a 36-20 lead into the break.

CCSU opened the second half with five points from junior TeJahne Malone, but Syracuse countered with six points of its own and held a 42-25 lead at the first media timeout of the period.

The Orange pulled away midway through the second half and led by 20 or more points for the final 11 minutes of the game.

Malone and junior Nicole Ferguson shared a team-high nine points in the game.  Syracuse had four players score in double figures led by 15 from Diamond Henderson.

The Blue Devils held a 43-34 advantage on the boards, including 19 offensive rebounds.  Junior Kayla Miller was the game's leading rebounder with 11 boards.  Malone (7), sophomore Chayla Lewis (6) and redshirt freshman Lauren Wolosik (5) were also strong on the glass.

Lewis was strong off the bench for the Blue Devils scoring six points and pulling down six rebounds in just 13 minutes.  She also had two assists and a steal.

Senior Kaley Watras (5) and freshman Camden Musgrave (5) also contributed to CCSU's 25 points off the bench.

The Blue Devils shot just 29.8% (17-57) from the field, but were 34.6% (9-26) from beyond the arc.  The Orange were 42.9% from the field, 33.3% from deep and 74.1% from the line.  Syracuse connected on 20-of-27 free throw attempts in the game.

The Blue Devils return to action on Saturday, Jan. 3 against Fairleigh Dickinson.  The contest is the Northeast Conference opener for both teams and is scheduled for a 1 p.m. tip-off at Detrick Gym.