Women's Basketball Tripped up by Lehigh on Saturday

The Central Connecticut women's basketball team dropped a 88-62 decision to the Mountain Hawks of Lehigh in the home opener on Saturday in New Britain, CT. The Mountain Hawks (2-0, 0-0 PL) shot 42.3 percent from behind the arc and broke away from CCSU with a big second quarter performance where they outscored Central 31-17.

CCSU (0-2, 0-0 NEC) was paced by seniors Andi Lydon and Kiana Patterson. The co-captains combined for 31 of Central's 62 points. Classmate Sydney Hines was the only other Blue Devil to hit double figures with 11 points.

Both teams shot well from the floor to start the game, with Lehigh shooting 41.2 percent, Central 44.4, and both teams 50 percent from beyond the arc in the first quarter. 

Hines drilled a three with less than 10 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Freshman Clair Steele would respond with a three of her own just before the buzzer to give Lehigh a 24-20 lead at the end of the first.

In the second, sophomore Ashley Berube hit back to back shots to tie the game. The Mountain Hawks applied full court pressure, which resulted in four turnovers for the Blue Devils. Central struggled to defend Lehigh from the perimeter as they continued to shoot well from the three-point line (55.6%) in the second quarter.  Lehigh extended the lead 37-55 going into halftime.

Out of the halftime break, Central continued to be aggressive. Hines and freshman Forever Toppin attacked the basket for easy layups combining for seven of Central's 11 third quarter points. Although CCSU's defensive pressure resulted in 19 Mountain Hawk turnovers, it was not enough to overcome a 30-point second-half drought.

CCSU played the Mountain Hawks evenly in the fourth quarter as they out-scored Lehigh by one point.

Lehigh had four players post double figures with Gena Grundhoffer leading all scorers with 17 points. Senior Hailey Pascoe scored 14 points, just three shy of a career-high and was 2-2 from three-point range.

The Central Connecticut women's basketball team will travel to New Jersey on Tuesday, Nov. 13 to play Rutgers University at 7 p.m.