Women's Basketball Topped By Maine On Wednesday, 62-42

The Central Connecticut women's basketball team drops to 1-4 on the season after falling to Maine, 62-42, on Wednesday afternoon at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, ME. The Blue Devils were out-scored 33-15 in the second half to suffer their third-straight loss on the road in the past seven days. Maine improves to 3-2 overall with the win.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair as there were eight lead changes and the score was tied six different times. Both teams consistently traded buckets throughout the first and second quarter. Central shot 50.0% (12-24) from the field in the half and Maine connected for 56.5% (13-23) of their attempts. 

The Black Bears led 14-11 with less than a minute left in the first quarter, but senior TeJahne Malone converted a conventional three point play to deadlock the game at 14-14 with 30 seconds remaining. However, Maine's Mikaela Gustafsson was fouled on the ensuing possesion and made one-of-two from the line to give Maine a slight 15-14 edge at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Blue Devils used a quick 7-0 run in the middle of the quarter to try and pull away from the Black Bears and led 25-20 with 3:32 remaining before halftime. Sophomore Camden Musgrave powered the run with four points on a pair of layups. The Black Bears would answer though and closed out the half with a 9-2 spurt to retake the lead, 29-27, heading into the locker rooms. Sigi Koizar was dominant down the stretch for Maine, ending the half with six-straight points.

The Black Bears controlled the second half out-scoring the Blue Devils 18-6 in the third quarter and 15-9 in the fourth quarter. Maine established control by starting the third period on an 8-0 run to take a 10 point lead, 37-27, forcing a CCSU timeout with 6:21 left in the third. Koizar capped off the run draining a three and the Black Bears wouldn't look back, leading by at least 10 points for the remainder of the game.

Central did use one final push to cut the lead to 12, 49-37, after a coast-to-coast layup by junior Aleah Epps with 8:22 remaining in the fourth quarter, but a triple by Lauren Bodine on the next Maine possession was a dagger and ended CCSU's momentum. The Black Bears would go on and outscore Central 10-5 for the rest of the quarter for the 62-42 victory.

The Blue Devils shot 36.4% (16-44) in the game, including just 20.0% (4-20) in the second half. They hit on 18.2% (2-11) of their attempts from long range and were 61.5% (8-13) from the free throw line.

Musgrave finished with a team-high 15 points for CCSU, shooting 50.0% (6-12) from the field. She hit on two-of-five attempts from beyond the arc, one-of-two from the line and also chipped in with a pair of steals. She was joined in double-figures by Malone who finished with 10. Malone also accounted for a team-high six rebounds and three assists.

Maine shot 51.0% (25-49) from the floor in the game, including 46.2% (12-26) in the second half. The Black Bears connected on 21.4% (3-14) of their attempts from three and shot 69.2% (9-13) from the charity stripe.

The Black Bears were led by Koizar who finished with a game-high 21 points. She was eight-of-13 from the floor, one-of-one from distance and four-of-six from the line. Maine also had three other players in double-figures. Gustafsson added 11 while Bella Swan and Liz Wood each had 10. Wood also controlled the glass picking up a game-high 10 rebounds for a double-double and also added a game-high five assists and four steals.

Maine forced 16 Blue Devil turnovers which resulted in 15 points for the Black Bears, They also held a 38-22 advantage in points in the paint and out-rebounded Central 30-26 in the game.

The CCSU women's basketball team will return to action next on Sunday, Nov. 29 as they host New Hampshire inside Detrick Gym. It marks the first double-header of the 2015-16 season as the CCSU men's basketball team will play directly after the completion of the women's game. Tip-off for the women's game is schedule for 1 p.m.