Women's Hoops Travels to Instate and NEC Rival Sacred Heart Saturday

The Central Connecticut women's basketball team (9-14, 6-6 NEC) travels down to Fairfield, CT on Saturday afternoon to take on instate and NEC rival Sacred Heart (12-11, 10-2 NEC) inside the William H. Pitt Center. The Blue Devils currently sit tied for fifth place in the NEC standings while the Pioneers have moved into a tie for first. Tip-off between the Blue Devils and Pioneers is scheduled for 1 p.m. in the front end of a NEC doubleheader with the CCSU and SHU men's teams to follow. All of the action for both games can be seen live, for free, on NECFrontRow.com.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE STATS | CCSU GAME NOTES

Today • The Central Connecticut women's basketball team (9-14, 6-6 NEC) travels down the road to Fairfield, CT to take on instate and NEC rival Sacred Heart (12-11, 10-2 NEC). Tip-off between the Blue Devils and Pioneers inside the William H. Pitt Center is scheduled for 1 p.m. in the front end of a NEC doubleheader with the CCSU and SHU men's teams to follow. All of the action for both games can be seen live, for free, on NECFrontRow.com.

Last Time Out • The Blue Devils fell on the road to the Robert Morris Colonials, 72-55, last Monday night on ESPN3. Central trailed 36-23 at the half and then by as many as 19 halfway through the third quarter before mounting a charge to get within five, 60-55, with 4:10 left to play in regualtion. That would be as close as the Blue Devils would get though as RMU closed the game on a 12-0 run for the 72-55 victory. Senior Kayla Miller paced the Blue Devils with a team-high 16 points, including 12 in the second half. Junior Aleah Epps also chipped in with 10 points in the setback.

Series History (10-26) • Today's matchup marks the 37th meeting all-time between these two programs at the Divison I level. Sacred Heart holds a 26-10 advantage in the series after defeating the Blue Devils earlier this season, 61-57, in double overtime. Last season, CCSU swept the season series topping the Pioneers, 62-49, in Fairfield on Jan. 5 and then 70-58 in New Britain on CCSU's Senior Day, Feb. 21.

Earlier This Season • The Blue Devils suffered a heartbreaking, 61-57, double overtime loss to the Pioneers inside Detrick Gym in New Britain back on Jan. 18. 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. Sophomore Camden Musgave had a team-high 16 points for CCSU and seniors TeJahne Malone and Kayla Miller added 12 and 11, respectively. Miller also pulled down 11 rebounds for a double-double. Hannah Kimmel finished with a game-high 21 points for the Pioneers and Alissa Tarsi had 18, including 14 in the second half and overtime periods.

Piper vs. SHU • Head Coach Beryl Piper is 8-11 (.421) all-time against Sacred Heart in her ninth year at the helm of the Blue Devils. She sports a 4-5 marks against the Pioneers inside the Pitt Center, including a 62-49 win last season.

Scouting the Pioneers • The Pioneers are tied for first in the NEC with a 10-2 conference mark. They are 12-11 overall on the year and sport a 6-4 mark at home. SHU averages 63.5 ppg as a team and are led by Hannah Kimmel who averages 17.0 ppg. Alissa Tarsi also averages in double figures for SHU at 11.7 ppg. Kimmel and Tarsi are also the Pioneers best rebounders. They pull down 7.9 rpg and 7.6 rpg, respectively. The Blue Devils' defense will have to try and contain one of the best shooting teams in the conference as the Pioneers connect for 41.1% from the field, including 31.2% from beyond the arc.

Up Next For CCSU • The Blue Devils will return to action next as they complete a four game road swing at LIU Brooklyn on Monday night. Tip-off between the Blue Devils and Blackbirds is slated for 7 p.m. and can be seen on NECFrontRow.com.

#SCTop10 • Freshman Kiana Patterson beat the third-quarter buzzer on Monday night at Robert Morris with a shot that swished in from just beyond halfcourt. The game was featured on ESPN3 and later that night/next morning the play was highlighted as Sports Center's #1 play.

Musgrave Assists • Sophomore Camden Musgrave is usually know as a scoring threat as she is the Blue Devils leading scorer to date, but on Monday night at RMU Musgrave dished out a career-high six assists. Her previous career-high was four.>40.0% • The Blue Devils are a perfect 7-0 this season when they shoot above 40.0% from the floor for the game. In games when they shoot under 40.0% they are 2-14.

Miller Watch • Senior Kayla Miller currently has 99 career steals as a Blue Devil. She needs one more to reach 100 and Miller has had a pair of 5+ steal games this season and four 4-steal games.

Halfway to 1,000 • Sophomore Camden Musgrave eclipsed 500 career points in a, 65-61, overtime win against SFBK on 1/30. She entered the game with 499 career points and finished with 13 to put her at 512. She now has 538 carrer points so far in her second year as a Blue Devil. The last Blue Devil to enter the 1,000 point club 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), Malone surpassed 500 career rebounds and 100 career steals. She now has 551 career boards and 113 career steals as a Blue Devil.