Women's Basketball Drops Double Overtime Heartbreaker Monday Night, 61-57

The Central Connecticut women's basketball team dropped a double overtime heartbreaker at home to instate foe Sacred Heart on Monday night, 61-57. The Pioneers closed the fourth quarter on a 10-0 run to tie the game and force the first overtime and then junior Aleah Epps hit a three pointer with 0.4 seconds left in the first overtime to tie the game, 53-53, and force a second overtime. However, the Pioneers would go on to outscore the Blue Devils 8-4 in the second overtime session to claim the 61-57 victory.

With the setback the Blue Devils fall to 5-12 overall on the season and 2-4 in Northeast Conference action. Sacred Heart improves to 7-10 on the year and 5-1 in the NEC. Sophomore Camden Musgrave led the way for the Blue Devils with a team-high 16 points and senior Kayla Miller recorded her second double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

The Blue Devils led 48-38 with just over five minutes left in the fourth quarter, but the Pioneers ended the game on a 10-0 run to tie it up, 48-48, and force the first overtime. Sacred Heart kept Central scoreless over the final 5:16 of regulation to complete the comeback.

In the first overtime period the Pioneers got on the board first with a three from Kelcey Castro that capped a 13-0 run giving Sacred Heart their first lead of the game, 51-48, since they led, 7-6, at the 6:48 mark in the first quarter. Then with the Pioneers leading 53-50 and less than 10 seconds on the clock, freshman Kiana Patterson corralled an errant Blue Devil three point attempt and found Epps on the right wing who splashed home a game-tying triple with 0.4 left on the clock to force a second overtime.

The dramatic shot would not be enough though, as the Pioneers went on to outscore CCSU 8-4 in the second overtime to steal the 61-57 victory from the Blue Devils at home.

Hannah Kimmel powered the comeback for the Pioneers finishing with a game-high 21 points. She also grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out four assists. Alissa Tarsi added 18 points, 14 of which came in the second half, and Castro also chipped in with 15 points for Sacred Heart.

Musgrave sunk 16 points to lead CCSU and she was joined in double figures by seniors TeJahne Malone (12) and Miller (11).

The Blue Devils were on fire in the first half and took a 34-27 lead heading into the locker rooms in large part to shooting 52.0% (13-25) from the field and 50.0% (6-12) from beyond the arc. However they would shoot just 17.9% (5-28) from the floor and 14.3% (1-7) from three in the second half to facilitate the SHU comeback.

The CCSU women's basketball team will return to action next on Saturday at home against Saint Francis U. It will mark the second of a five game home stand for the Blue Devils over the course of the next two weeks. Tip-off between the Blue Devils and Red Flash is scheduled for 1 p.m. and all of the action can be seen live, for free, on NECFrontRow.com.