Women's Hoop Drops Season Opener To Vermont, 79-63
The Blue Devils shot just 21-of-75 (28.0%) from the floor against Vermont as they were handed a 79-63 loss on the road on Friday afternoon.
The Central Connecticut women's basketball team dropped it's season opener 79-63 on the road at Vermont on Friday afternoon. The Catamounts exploded for a 25-0 run to start the second quarter and the Blue Devils were were unable to recover and were handed the loss. CCSU drops to 0-1 on the season while UVM moves to 1-0.
The Blue Devils raced out to an early 9-2 lead over the Catamounts in the first quarter with a 9-0 run fueled by sophomore Emma Stroyan who sank back-to-back buckets.
The Catamounts would answer, however, and cut the CCSU lead to just four, 19-15, at the end of the first period.
Then, Vermont exploded for a 25-0 run to open the second quarter and would never look back. The Catamounts hit five three's during the run, including a pair from Kylie Atwood who finished with 12 points, all coming from beyond the arc. The big run was capped off by four-straight points from Sydney Smith to give UVM a 37-19 lead with 3:19 left before the intermission.
Central responded to the run and cut the Vermont lead to just 10, 39-29, heading into the locker rooms. A three by freshman Kiana Patterson with 11 seconds left pulled the Blue Devils within striking distance.
Central came out of the half and scored first in the third quarter as junior guard Aleah Epps hit a pair of free throws to make it 39-31, but that would be as close as CCSU would get for the remainder of the game.
Two quick 7-0 spurts, one at the end of the third quarter and one at the beginning of the fourth, put the Catamount lead out of reach for the eventual 79-63 decision.
Central shot just 21-of-75 (28.0%) from the floor in the game, including 6-of-24 (25.0%) from beyond the arc. CCSU hit 15-of-22 (68.2%) attempts from the free throw line.
Senior Kayla Miller had a team-high 14 points for the Blue Devils in the opener, connecting on five-of-13 shooting from the floor and was four-of-nine from the line. She also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds and had four steals.
Sophomore Camden Musgrave led Central from beyond the arc, hitting three-of-five attempts in the game to finish with nine points.
Vermont converted on 26-of-58 (44.8%) of their shot attempts, including 9-of-19 (47.4%) from distance. The Catamounts also shot 18-of-25 (72.0%) from the charity stripe.
Smith led the way for UVM finishing with a game-high 20 points and game-high 10 rebounds for a double-double in the season opener. She also added three assists, two steals and a block.
UVM held a slight advantage on the boards out rebounding Central 50-45.
The Blue Devils will return to action with their home opener next Tuesday night against UMass Lowell. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. and all of the action can be seen live, for free on NECFrontRow.com.
