Patterson, Women's Basketball Shoots Past LIU Brooklyn Monday Night

Freshman Kiana Patterson and junior Giocelis Reynoso both had a career-high night as the Central Connecticut women's basketball team never trailed in a, 65-57, win over LIU Brooklyn on Monday night in Brooklyn, NY. Patterson was a perfect five-for-five from beyond the arc on her way to a career-high 16 points and Reynoso added a career-high 10 points in the victory.

The win improves the Blue Devils record to 10-15 overall and 7-7 in Northeast Conference action. It marks the eighth straight season that CCSU has posted a double-digit win season, extending the program-best streak. LIU Brooklyn falls to 8-17 overall and 6-8 in the NEC with the loss.

Central raced out to an early 10-0 lead keeping LIU Brooklyn off the scoreboard for the first 5:33 of the game. Senior Kayla Miller fueled the early run scoring six of the Blue Devils first 10 points.

The Blackbirds finally got things started and chipped into the CCSU lead. They would get within six, 16-10, after a pair of Stylz Sanders free throws, but a quick 3-0 spurt in the final eight seconds of the first period gave the Blue Devils a 19-10 edge after the first quarter.

LIU Brooklyn opened up the second quarter with a quick 8-3 run to pull within 22-18, but Central responded again and rattled off six unanswered points to stretch its lead back to 28-18 with 4:51 to play before halftime.

The Blackbirds would finally make their push in the first half and answered with a 13-3 run over the next four minutes to tie the game, 31-31. A Shanovia Dove three started the spurt and Sanders would score five straight for LIU over that span, but Patterson would put out the fire with her fourth three of the first half with 51 seconds to play and give the Blue Devils a 34-31 lead heading into the locker rooms.

The second half was tightly contested, but the Blue Devils were able to maintain a steady lead throughout. They finally broke away at the end of the third quarter as they closed the period with a 6-0 run and took a 54-44 advantage heading into the final period.

In the fourth quarter, the Blackbirds wouldn't go down quietly and opened the final period with a 6-0 run of their own. After a 5-0 response from CCSU that included Patterson's fifth three of the contest, LIU Brooklyn rattled of a 7-0 burst to get within two, 59-57, with 1:26 left on the clock.

That would be as close as they would get though as Aleah Epps made the play of the game to secure the victory for CCSU. The junior drove left into traffic and hit a floater with a minute left to play and put the pressure on LIU to score quickly. Central's defense stood tall and the Blue Devils hit four-of-six free throw attempts down the stretch for the, 65-57, victory.

CCSU shot 39.6% (21-53) in the game, including 41.2% (7-17) from distance. Patterson led three Blue Devils in double-figures with a career-high 16 points on five-of-five shooting from the floor, all three's. Miller added 12 points and Reynoso sunk a career-high 10 points in the win. Miller and Reynoso also logged four blocks each for Central.

LIU Brooklyn hit for 31.6% (18-57) from the field, including 29.4% (5-17) from beyond the arc. Sanders paced the Blackbirds with 11 points and nine rebounds.

The Blue Devils will be back in action next as they return home for a 3:30 p.m. contest against Wagner next Saturday.