Women's Basketball Outlasts Albany 60-53 Wednesday

The Central Connecticut women's basketball team defeated Albany 60-53 on Wednesday inside the SEFCU Arena in Albany, NY. The Blue Devils were led by senior Kiana Patterson who scored a career-high 28 points, 12 of which came in the first quarter. This is the fourth 20+ game for Patterson.

CCSU improves to 2-5 on the year while Albany falls to 1-8.

The first quarter was tied for 4:30 as Patterson scored all 12 of Central's points. The Troy, NY native hit back-to-back threes and was 100 percent from the floor with 8 points at the first media timeout. The Great Dane's Kyara Frames had two threes of her own shooting 50 percent from deep in the first 10 minutes of play.

After Patterson scored the first basket in the second quarter for Central, Albany went on a 10-0 run before sophomore Ashely Forker blew past her defender and hit a pull up jumper in the paint to end the run. Albany outscored CCSU 20-8 in the second quarter going into halftime with a 36-20 lead.

After the first 20 minutes of play, Central shot 8-22 (.364) from the floor and connected 2-6 (.333) from beyond the arc. Albany shot 48.4% including 4-12 (.333) from three-point range.

Out of the halftime gate, Central went on a 7-2 run with Patterson and senior Andi Lydon hitting back-to-back jumpers to cut the lead 38-27 with 7:05 left to play in the third. With 4:20 remaining, the co-captains were 5-8 (.625) from the floor and combined for 15 of the 19 points scored in the quarter.

The Blue Devils cut the lead to 4 with 1:14 remaining in the third when sophomore Ashley Berube drove baseline and found classmate Emma McCamus cutting to the basket for a layup. Central drew seven fouls, forced five turnovers, and outscored the Great Danes 19-8 in the third. CCSU entered the last 10 minutes of play down 44-39.

Central's third quarter momentum carried into the fourth. At the 5:27 media timeout, the Blue Devils were 3-7 (.429) from the floor while the Great Danes were 0-6. Central took its first lead of the game with 3:34 to play when McCamus drove to the basket to put CCSU up 47-46. Heather Foster responded for Albany with a layup in the paint before Lydon hit two free throws and a three pointer to extend the lead 52-48.

Patterson drained a three just before the shot clock expired to put Central up 57-53 with 26.4 left. CCSU would go on to win the game 60-53. In the final five minutes of play the Blue Devils outscored the Great Danes 13-7.

Central finished the game shooting 21-47 (.447) including 6-11 (.545) from behind the arc. Lydon was one rebound shy of a double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds. Junior Bruna Vila Artigues recorded a career-high four assists.                   

Alexi Schecter finished with 12 points and Frames had 13 for Albany and Forster grabbed 10 rebounds. The Great Danes struggled to score in the second half shooting just 2-15 (.113) in the fourth quarter.

Central is off for a week before hosting University of New Hampshire on Sunday, Dec. 16 at 1 p.m. in New Britain, CT.