Women's Basketball Tops St. Francis Brooklyn, 67-61, in Regular Season Finale

Sophomore Camden Musgrave and senior Kayla Miller combined to score 27 points, all in the second half, to overcome a four-point halftime deficit and defeat the St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers, 67-61, in the Blue Devils regular season finale on Monday night in Brooklyn. With the win the Blue Devils finish the regular season with a 12-17 record overall and 9-9 mark in NEC play to secure the #5 seed in the upcoming NEC Tournament. They will travel to #4 seeded Saint Francis U for the quarterfinal round on Sunday, Mar. 6.

Musgrave finished with a team-high 14 points to pace the Blue Devils in the win. Miller added 13, pouring in 11 in the third quarter to fuel the second half comeback. Junior Aleah Epps also chipped in with 13 points and tied her career-high with seven assists. She also had a team-high seven rebounds and four steals.

The first half was tightly contested with the Blue Devils holding the lead for the majority of the first 20 minutes, but a 7-0 run by the Terriers late in the second quarter gave them their largest lead of the half, 25-19, with two minutes left before the break. Senior TeJahne Malone stopped the run with a layup to bring Central within four, 25-21, heading into the locker rooms.

Both teams struggled shooting in the first half. The Blue Devils hit 10-of-33 (30.3%) attempts from the floor, including just 1-of-8 from three. Epps powered the offense for Central with 10 first half points and three assists.

St. Francis Brooklyn connected on 7-of-27 (25.9%) attempts from the field, including just 2-of-7 from distance. They were a perfect 9-of-9 from the charity stripe though to hold the slight edge at the break. Alex Delaney had seven to lead the way for SFBK in the first half.

Miller opened the second half with four of her 11 third quarter points to tie the game, 25-25, just 19 seconds after exiting the locker rooms. Both team would trade points and the lead several times over the ensuing seven minutes until the Blue Devils rattled off an 8-0 run to take a 46-39 lead with 1:32 to play in the third quarter.

Freshman Kiana Patterson drained a three to start the run and make it 41-39 at the 2:40 mark to play in the third quarter and it also would put Central up for the remainder of the game. Miller followed with a three-point play on CCSU's next possession and then Patterson capped off the run on the next trip down the floor hitting a 15-foot jumper.

The Terriers would respond to the run though scoring six unanswered points over the final 1:15 of the period to cut their deficit to 46-45 heading into the final period of play.

Musgrave opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back triples for the Blue Devils to make it 52-47, but St. Francis Brooklyn would respond again and scored five straight from Alex Delaney to tie the game 52-52 with 7:30 left to play in regulation.

That would be as close as the Terriers would get for the remainder of the game as the Blue Devils outscored SFBK 15-9 over the final time frame. Rachel Iozzia hit a big three to get the Terriers within 60-57, but Malone followed with a layup and a foul to swing the momentum right back to CCSU. Central would go on to hit 6-of-8 free throws in the final two minutes of play to secure the 67-61 victory.

Central had its best half shooting on the season in the second stanza converting at a 60.0% (18-30) clip and would shoot 44.4% (28-63) overall in the game. They finished shooting 31.3% (5-16) from three and 60.0% (6-10) from the free throw line.

The Blue Devils will return to action next in the NEC Tournament as they travel to Loretto, PA to face off with the Saint Francis U Red Flash in the quarterfinal round. Tip-off time has yet to be determined.