Women's Hoop Edges St. Francis Brooklyn 51-49

The Central Connecticut women's basketball team edged St. Francis Brooklyn 51-49 at the Pope Physical Education Center on Monday afternoon in Brooklyn Heights, NY. The Blue Devils move to 11-8 overall on the season and 7-1 in Northeast Conference play.

The 7-1 mark in the NEC is the best start to league play in program history after eight games. The Terriers fall to 5-15 on the season with the loss and 2-6 in the NEC. Central was led by freshman Camden Musgrave who finished with a game-high 12 points.

The Blue Devils got off to a slow start scoring just 10 points in the first 14:31 of the first half.  They trailed 17-10 with 7:34 to play before halftime and didn't score again until the 5:29 mark of the half. 

Central would respond in a big way in the final five minutes of the half, outscoring the Terriers 17-4 and building a 27-21 halftime lead.

The Blue Devils would open the second half the way they finished the first, building a 39-28 lead with 11:58 left in the game.  Over the final five minutes of the first half and the first eight minutes of the second half Central outscored St. Francis Brooklyn 29-11.

The Terriers would respond with a 12-0 run to take a 40-39 lead with 8:25 to play.  The Central scoring drought reached 5:54 before a Musgrave jumper broke the streak and gave the Blue Devils a 41-40 lead.

Neither team would lead by more than three for the rest of the game as the lead changed seven times before the Blue Devils climbed ahead 48-47 on a layup from junior TeJahne Malone with 1:42 on the clock.  The lead stretched to 51-47 on three Musgrave free-throws.

Central held on for the win, its fourth straight.  Musgrave led the Blue Devils with 12 points, including a pair of threes, while senior Amanda Harrington added nine points and seven rebounds.  Malone ended the game with six points and eight boards, while sophomore Aleah Epps had eight points. 

Balanced scoring helped the Blue Devils to the victory.  No player had more than 12 points and six players scored at least four.  Eight players scored in the game, and no one took more than nine shots.  Central shot 41 percent from the field (20-of-49), but hit just 4-of-15 from three.  They were 7-of-10 from the line.

The Blue Devils will return to action on Saturday on the road at Wagner at 2:00 p.m.