Women's Basketball Hosts First Place Bryant Monday Night on ESPN3

The Central Connecticut women's basketball team (8-12, 5-4 NEC) takes on the first place and undefeated Bryant Bulldogs (12-8, 9-0 NEC) Monday night inside Detrick Gym in New Britain, CT. The Blue Devils have won three straight and five of their last six entering Monday night's contest as they wrap up a five game homestand against the Bulldogs. Tip-off between CCSU and Bryant is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be aired live on ESPN3 as well as NECFrontRow.com. John Schmeelk and Pam Roecker will have the call.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE STATS | CCSU GAME NOTES | BRYANT GAME NOTES

Tonight • Tonight's contest features two of the hottest teams in the Northeast Conference as the Central Connecticut women's basketball team (8-12, 5-4 NEC) looks for its fourth straight win and sixth out of its last seven as they host the first place and undefeated Bryant Bulldogs (12-8, 9-0) inside Detrick Gym in New Britain, CT. Tip-off between the Blue Devils and Bulldogs is scheduled for 7:04 p.m.

ESPN3 • Tonight's game will be featured live on ESPN3 with John Schmeelk (PxP) and Pam Roecker (Color) on the call. It's the first of two ESPN3 featured games for the Blue Devils as they are also scheduled on ESPN3 when they travel to Robert Morris next Monday, Feb. 8. Tonight's live feed will also be aired through NECFrontRow.com as well.

Previously For Both Teams • Last Saturday, the Blue Devils rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to defeat the St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers, 65-61, in overtime at home. Central trailed 26-16 at the half, but outscored the Terriers 22-9 in the third quarter to get back in the game and take the lead, 38-35, heading into the final period. Trailing by two with under 20 seconds to play, the Terriers Olivia Levey grabbed an offensive rebound and scored to tie the game, 52-52, and send the game into overtime. However, the Blue Devils controlled the overtime period and a pair of free throws by freshman Andi Lydon with three seconds left secured a 65-61 victory for CCSU.  The Bulldogs last played at Sacred Heart on Saturday edging the Pioneers 61-59. They trailed 59-58 with under a minute to play, but a layup by Alex Klein and free throw from Breanna Rucker gave Bryant the win as SHU's Adaysha Willams missed a last second three pointer for the win.

Series History (7-8) • Tonight's matchup marks the 16th meeting all-time between these two programs at the Division I level. Bryant holds a slight 8-7 advantage in the series after defeating the Blue Devils earlier this season, 70-56, in Smithfield, RI back on Jan. 2. Last year, the two teams split a pair of meetings with each team winning on its respective home courts.
Earlier This Season • The Bulldogs topped the Blue Devils, 70-56, earlier this season in both team's NEC opener in Smithfield, RI on Jan. 2. Bryant used a big second half to pull away for the victory holding CCSU to 28.6% (8-28) shooting after the break. Sophomore Camden Musgrave was the only scorer in double figures for Central with 21 and Bryant had three in double digits led by a game-high 26 from Breanna Rucker. The Bulldogs dominated the glass outrebounding the Blue Devils 43-31, including 14 from Rucker. Noteworthy: Junior Aleah Epps did not play last time out against Bryant - Team Decision.

Piper vs. Bryant • Head Coach Beryl Piper is 7-8 (.467) all-time against the Bulldogs in her ninth season at the helm of the Blue Devils. CCSU and Piper have dropped the last two meetings against Bryant, but beat them the last time they came to New Britain, 70-59. Piper holds a 4-3 mark versus Bryant inside Detrick Gym.

Scouting Bryant • The Bulldogs are 12-8 overall, 9-0 in the NEC and sport a 6-5 mark on the road this season. They average 67.1 ppg and are led by Breanna Rucker who averages 14.3 ppg. She is also the team's and NEC's leading rebounder at 10.6 rpg. She does most of her damage inside the arc conecting on 100-of-205 (48.8%) attempts from the field with only nine three's and is one of the NEC's best free throw shooters at 86.3%. Tiersa Winder and Ivory Bailey also average double figure scoring at 13.1 ppg and 11.5 ppg, respectively. Bryant is the best rebounding team in the conference with a +10.7 rebounding margin, averaging 41.2 rpg as a team.

Homeward Bound • Tonight's game marks the final game of a five game homestand for the Blue Devils. Prior to this stretch, CCSU had only played five home games on the entire season and has now doubled that total over the past two weeks. They are currenly 3-1 over this stretch with the only loss coming in double overtime to second place Sacred Heart. Overall they are 6-3 on the year inside Detrick Gym.

Up Next For CCSU • The Blue Devils will return to action next as they make the annual trip out to Western PA to play Saint Francis U and Robert Morris. CCSU will first play at SFU on Saturday at 1 p.m. and then head to RMU Monday for a 7 p.m. tip that will be featured on ESPN3.

Lydon Uplift • Freshman Andi Lydon has seen a steady increase in playing time over the past three games. She has set career high marks in minutes played with 20 vs. SFU (1/23), 23 vs. RMU (1/25) and then 32 vs. SFBK last Saturday (1/30). Against SFBK, Lydon sparked the Blue Devils in the third quarter in route to their comeback overtime win and finished with a career-high 17 points and career-high eight rebounds. She had 11 points and three rebounds in the third period alone to fuel the charge.

Miller Steals the Show • Senior Kayla Miller took over in the second half and overtime last time out against SFBK. She netted a season-high 16 points in the game, including 14 in the second half and overtime period. She was eight-of-10 shooting from the field. She also recorded a game-high six steals. It marks the second time in the past four games Miller has had 5+ steals in a game. She needs six more steals for 100 on the season.

40.0% • The Blue Devils are a perfect 6-0 this season when they shoot above 40.0% from the floor for the game. In games when they shoot under 40.0% they are 2-12.

Halfway to 1,000 • Sophomore Camden Musgrave eclipsed 500 career points in the win over SFBK on Saturday. She entered the game with 499 career points and finished with 13 to put her at 512 so far in her second year as a Blue Devil. The last Blue Devil to score 1,000 points was Kerrianne Dugan (2007-2011) who ranks third all-time with 1,311 career points.

Malone's Career • With 12 rebounds and three steals against Wagner (1/16), senior TeJahne Malone surpassed 500 career rebounds and 100 career steals. She now has 534 career boards and 109 career steals as a Blue Devil.

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 120 wins are tops during CCSU's Division I era, as is her .462 career winning percentage.