Women's Basketball Set For Season Opener At Vermont

The Central Connecticut women's basketball team is set to open the 2015-16 season against America East member Vermont on Friday, Nov. 13 in Patrick Gymnasium in Burlington, VT. It is the first game of the season for both squads as Friday offically marks the opening day of college basketball. Tip-off is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. as UVM hosts Catamount Classroom Day.

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Today • The Central Connecticut women's basketball team opens the 2015-16 season against America East member Vermont at Patrick Gymnasium in Burlington, VT with an 11:30 AM tip.  The Blue Devils and Catamounts are each playing their first game of the season today.  The two teams most recently met last season in New Britain with the Blue Devils prevailing 77-75 in overtime on a last second layup from graduated senior, Amanda Harrington.

Series History • Today's game marks the 17th meeting all-time between these two programs at the Division I level.  The two teams have split the series evenly with each team winning eight games, but the Blue Devils have won the previous three in a row spanning the last three seasons.  Prior to last year's dramatic 77-75 overtime win, CCSU won 82-68 in Vermont in 2013-14 and 67-41 at home during the 2012-13 season.  Head Coach Beryl Piper is 3-0 against the Catamounts.

The Roster • The Blue Devils' roster will feature 10 returning players for the 2015-16 season. All 10 saw game action during the 2014-15 campaign. The squad will also feature four new faces as head coach Beryl Piper and the Blue Devils welcome four freshmen.  The 14 player roster will feature three seniors, three juniors, four sophomores, and four true freshmen.

Piper Tops The List • Beryl Piper begins her ninth season as the head coach of the CCSU women's basketball program as the winningest Division I coach in the history of the program.  Piper's 112 wins are tops during CCSU's Division I era, as is her .467 career winning percentage.

Double-Digit Victories • With 19 wins last season CCSU has posted double-digit wins in seven straight seasons for the first time in program history. The 2012-13 team's 16 wins gave the Blue Devils five straight double-digit win seasons for the first time in the Division I era.  The program also had a five-year run at the Division II level between 1975 and 1980.

2015-16 NEC Preseason Poll •
1. Robert Morris (7)
2. Bryant (2)
3. CENTRAL CONNECTICUT (1)
4. Fairleigh Dickinson
5. Sacred Heart
6. Wagner
7. Mount St. Mary's
8.Saint Francis U
9. St. Francis Brooklyn
10. LIU Brooklyn

2015-16 NEC Preseason Poll Cont. • Central Connecticut received one first place vote and was picked to finish third in the NEC by a vote of the conference's head coaches. The third place prediction matches the highest ranking for Blue Devils ever in the NEC Preseason Coaches' Poll, as CCSU was also slotted third in the 2009-10 poll. The first place nod, however, is the first for Central since joining the league.

Captain Malone • Prior to the Blue Devils first game, head coach Beryl Piper announced that senior TeJahne Malone will represent the Blue Devils as captain this season.

'15 Seniors Moving On • The Blue Devils graduated a pair of seniors from last year's squad: Amanda Harrington and Kaley Watras. Both student-athletes were staples in the lineup for the Blue Devils and ranked second and fifth in minutes played per game last season.