Women to Face Fordham Tonight in WNIT, 7PM
CCSU and Fordham met earlier this season in New Britain.
The Central Connecticut women's basketball season will continue on Thursday night with a trip to Fordham University in the first round of the Postseason WNIT. The Blue Devils (19-12) and Fordham (20-11) will be meeting for the second time this season.
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Tipoff time for the game will be at 7 p.m. The winner faces the winner of the Army - St. John's game in the second round, which would take place sometime between March 21-24.
The Blue Devils earned a bid to the tournament based on their regular season co-championship in the Northeast Conference. Central won the tie-breaker with Bryant University, earned the top seed for the NEC Tournament, and the league's automatic bid to the WNIT once they lost in the conference semifinals to eventual tournament champion St. Francis Brooklyn.
Tonight's Game • The Blue Devils (19-12) make their second ever post-season apperance, beyond the conference tournament, in program history tonight in the Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) against the Fordham Rams (20-11). The game will take place on the campus of Fordham University in the Bronx, NY inside Rose Hill Gym at 7 p.m.
WNIT History • Tonight's matchup is the second time in the school's NCAA Division I history that the CCSU women's basketball team qualified for post-season play past the conference tournament. The only other post-season appearnce in the history of the program came during the 2008-09 season when the Blue Devils played Boston University, also in the WNIT. The Terriers topped CCSU 79-60 in that game, exactly six years ago to date (Mar. 19, 2009).
Series History • Tonight's game marks just the fourth meeting in the all-time Division I series history between these programs and a rematch from a game played earlier this season. The Rams took a 2-1 advantage in the all-time series after they walked away with a 72-36 victory in Detrick Gym on Dec. 9.
Earlier This Season • The Blue Devils and Rams faced-off earlier this season with the Rams topping CCSU 72-36 on Dec. 9 in New Britain. Nobody on either team scored in double-figures, but the Rams had four players with nine points. Senior Amanda Harrington and sophomore Chayla Lewis paced the Blue Devils with six points apiece. Fordham forced 21 Central turnovers and held the Blue Devils to 28.3% (13-46) shooting from the floor. The Rams connected for 52.9% (27-51) of their shots and out-rebounded CCSU 38-28 en route to the victory.
NEC Regular Season Co-Champions • The Blue Devils finished the regular season in a tie for first place with the Bryant Bulldogs to earn a share of the Northeast Conference regular season championship. The title marks the first time in program history the Blue Devils have finished on top of the NEC regular season standings and earned them the automatic birth into the WNIT.
Last Time Out • The first-seed Blue Devils dropped a 71-63 double overtime heartbreaker at home to fifth-seed St. Francis Brooklyn in the NEC semifinal round of the 2015 NEC Tournament. The loss eliminated CCSU from the tournament and SFBK went on to be the eventual NEC champions, defeating Robert Morris in the championship game. With the Blue Devils down three points with 0.6 seconds left to play, junior TeJahne Malone hit a three-pointer to tie the game 54-54 and force overtime. The play would be the #9 play on SportsCenter the next day. Despite the miraculous shot, Central was unable to complete the comeback as they never led in the entire game and fell 71-63. Malone and senior Amanda Harrington both recorded double-doubles in the loss. Malone finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds to log her ninth double-double of the year and Harrington had 15 points and 11 boards for her fourth double-double. The free throw line was the x-factor in the game as SFBK, the best free throw shooting team in the NEC, shot 85.2% (23-27) compared to CCSU's 55.6% (5-9). SFBK had an 18 point advantage from the stripe.
#1 Seed • Following the Blue Devils 21-point victory over FDU on Saturday, Feb. 28 and a Bryant loss, CCSU officially clinched the first seed in the 2015 NEC Tournament. The Blue Devils held all of the possible tie breakers by sweeping the fourth-seed Sacred Heart Pioneers to assure them the first seed and home court advantage throughout the tournament.
Scouting the Rams • The Rams are coming off a 72-60 loss to George Washington in the A10 semifinals of the A10 Tournament. Offensively, they average 58.8 ppg as a team, led by 12.0 ppg from Emily Tapio. Tapio is the only player on the Rams roster who averages in double-figures. Hannah Missery is the second leading scorer, averaging 9.0 ppg, and does most of her damage from behind the arc. Missery has connected on a team-high 70 three-pointers in 193 attempts. Tiffany Ruffin controls the glass for Fordham averaging a team-best 5.9 rpg.