Women's Basketball Falls to SFU 83-68 Saturday

The Central Connecticut women's basketball team dropped a 83-68 decision to Saint Francis U on Saturday evening in Loretto, PA. Senior Andi Lydon scored a season-high 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Central opened the game with an 8-0 run with two threes from senior Kiana Patterson and a layup by sophomore Tiffany Slicklein. The Blue Devils held the Red Flash scoreless for the first 3:52 as they shot just 1-7 in the opening minutes. Courtney Zezza scored the first six points for Saint Francis and Jess Kovatch added in eight points to give SFU a 14-13 lead after the first quarter.

Saint Francis won the second quarter 16-14. Patterson continued to shoot well from deep connecting on 4-of-7 shots from three-point range in the first half. The Troy, NY native tied the game 25-25 with 1:46 to play in the half, but the Red Flash responded with back-to-back makes to lead 30-27 at the halftime break.

After the first 20 minutes of action, the teams were fairly even across the board. Central shot 33.3 percent (10-30) from the field and 33.3 percent (5-15) from beyond the arc. Saint Francis shot 34.4 percent (11-32) and 23.5 percent (4-17) from deep. Both teams had six offensive rebounds in the first half, with 19 and 20 total rebounds respectively.

Patterson knocked down her fifth triple to start the second half. Central connected on its first 4-of-5 shots of the half and trailed 42-40 at the third quarter media timeout with 4:59 to play. The Red Flash pushed the ball in transition and outscored the Blue Devils 15-7 for the remainder of the quarter.

Saint Francis pushed the score to 65-49, its largest lead of the game, with 8:11 to play. Senior Sydney Hines connected on two triples to cut into the lead. The Blue Devils applied full court pressure and cut the lead 75-66 with 2:13 to play, but it wasn't enough to overcome the double-digit deficit.  

Patterson was the only other Blue Devil to hit double-figures. She finished with 15 points shooting 5-9 (55.6 percent) from deep. Sophomore Ashley Forker had seven rebounds and a career-high seven assists.

Kovatch finished with 28 points and six rebounds for SFU. Zezza recorded a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Karson Swogger and Haley Thomas had 10 points each.

Women's basketball continues on the road to Robert Morris on Monday, Feb. 11 for a 7 p.m. tipoff.