Women's Hoop Stopped By No. 5 Maryland Saturday

The Central Connecticut women's basketball team dropped to 1-7 on the season after falling to the No. 5 ranked Maryland Terrapins, 86-43, on Saturday afternoon at the XFINITY Center in College Park, MD. A tough first quarter where Maryland outscored the Blue Devils 22-2 set the tone in the game and proved to be too much of a deficit for CCSU to overcome.

Maryland remains undefeated, improving to 8-0 on the season with the victory. They had five players score in double-figures and never trailed in the game.

The Terrapins jumped out to quick 6-0 lead before the Blue Devils got on the scoreboard with a nice post move and layup from sophomore Emma Stroyan. That would be all Central could muster though in the quarter as Maryland took control of the game and went on a 16-0 run over the final seven minutes of the period to lead 22-2 at the first intermission.

Maryland would carry the momentum over to the second quarter and extended their run to 25 unanswered points, building a 31-2 advantage with 7:48 to play before halftime. Freshman Kiana Patterson stopped the run though with a free throw at the 6:38 mark, ending a scoreless drought of over 10 minutes for CCSU.

The Blue Devils would then go on to outscore Maryland, 12-10, over the final 6:38 of the first half and entered the locker rooms trailing 41-14. Patterson banked in a buzzer-beater from just inside half court to give CCSU the slight scoring edge over the timeframe.

Central carried the energy into the third quarter and played their best quarter of the game. They shot the ball much better, hitting five of their first six shot attempts in the second half. Sophomore Camden Musgrave drained two consecutive shots over that stretch, including a three pointer from the top of the key.

CCSU kept the pressure up and kept making shots, opening the third quarter outscoring Maryland 17-12 to cut the deficit to 21, 53-32. Stroyan capped of the impressive start hitting a baseline jumper and forced a Terp timeout with 2:10 remaining the third quarter. That would be as close as the Blue Devils would come though as Maryland exited the timeout and went on a quick 8-0 spurt to take back control of the game and ended the third quarter up 63-36.

The swing propelled Maryland into the fourth quarter where they outscored CCSU 23-7 for the 86-43 victory.

Central shot just 30.2% (16-53) in the game, but were much better in the second half shooting 42.3% (11-26). They also shot 26.7% (4-15) from beyond the arc and were 63.6% (7-11) from the free throw line. Sophomore Emma Stroyan led the way for the Blue Devils with a team-high nine points. Patterson, Musgrave and junior Aleah Epps also chipped in with seven points a piece.

The Terrapins were 56.9% (37-65) from the field, including 30.0% (3-10) from distance in the game. They also converted for 90.0% (9-10) from the free throw line. Shatori Walker-Kimbrough paced five Terps in double-figures with 18 points. Joining Walker-Kimbrough was Brionna Jones (14), Kiara Leslie (11), Tierney Pfirman (10) and Brene Moseley (10).

Maryland controlled the glass holding a 43-22 edge in rebounds. Kiah Gillespie had seven for the Terps, but senior TeJahne Malone finished with a game-high 10 boards for CCSU as the only player with double-digit rebounds.

In addition, the Terrapins length and inside presence also influenced most of the game as they held a 48-10 advantage in points in the paint. However, the Blue Devils were able to record 10 steals in the game and force 17 Maryland turnovers

The Blue Devils go on a week hiatus and will return to action next on Saturday, Dec. 12 when they host Massachusetts for their third home game of the season. Tip-off is schedule for 1 p.m. inside Detrick Gymnasium and all of the action can be seen live, for free, on NECFrontRow.com.