Blue Devils Fall to the Bulldogs on the Road

Central Connecticut women's basketball dropped its first Northeast Conference game of the season on Wednesday, losing to the Bulldogs 60-53. The Blue Devils were able to cut the Bulldogs lead to single digits late, but some misses from the line kept it from getting closer.

GAME INFORMATION

FINAL SCORE CCSU 53 Bryant 60

RECORDS CCSU (2-8, 0-1 NEC) Bryant (3-9, 1-0 NEC)

LOCATION Smithfield, RI

KEY MOMENTS

• The Blue Devils were playing lights out in the first few minutes of Wednesday's game. Dejah Jenkins got things started with a nice move that opened herself up for the jumper. 
• Alli Napoli went board dominant during this run. Grabbing an offensive rebound for a second chance basket then grabbing the defensive board on the other end. She scored four points as the Blue Devils kicked off NEC play with a 10-4 lead over Bryant early.
• The Bulldogs were able to shake the rust off after their slow start, and tied things up at 17. A late foul from CCSU put Bryant at the line. They knocked down one, giving them the lead for the final five seconds of the first quarter.
• The Bulldogs turned things around in the second quarter of action. Through the first seven minutes of the second, Bryant outscored CCSU 17-2. Two straight buckets from Toppin cut things closer, but CCSU went into halftime trailing 29-40.
• Both offenses came out of the halftime break cold. In the third, neither team shot better than 30 percent. In the crucial fourth frame, both teams shot an even 25 percent.
• Though the Blue Devils trailed by double digits heading into the fourth, the Bulldogs quickly got into some serious foul trouble to start the final quarter, getting into the bonus early. CCSU had a prime oppurtunity here to cut into the Bryant lead, but were only able to shoot 6-13 from the line down the stretch.

NOTES

• The Blue Devils were without the services of Ashley Berube in today's game. Berube is the leading scorer on CCSU and also leads the NEC in scoring totals with 17 points per game.
• Though foul trouble only kept her in the game for 17 minutes, Toppin's 11 points recorded are a new season high for the New Jersey guard.

UP NEXT...

The Blue Devils game against St. Francis Brooklyn that was originally scheduled for New Year's Eve was cancelled yesterday, making CCSU's next scheduled game at Sacred Heart on January 6.