Women's Basketball Stopped by the Mount

Central Connecticut women's basketball dropped its home match to the defending Northeast Conference Champion Mount St. Mary's Sunday, falling 71-60.

GAME INFORMATION

FINAL SCORE CCSU 60 MSM 71

RECORDS CCSU (3-12, 2-6 NEC) MSM (7-8, 5-3 NEC)

LOCATION Detricky Gymnasium | New Britain, CT

KEY MOMENTS

• The Mount St. Mary's defense was firing on all cylinders right out of the gates Sunday, disrupting passing lanes and swarming the ball on every possession. The Blue Devils were unable to adjust in the first quarter and were held to 2-15 from the field (13.3 percent). Meanwhile, the Mount defense got off to a hot start from the floor, shooting 50 percent in the first.
• The Blue Devils were able to shake a bit of the rust off in the second quarter and started hitting more shots, but the Mount's defense wreaked havoc in the passing lanes, forcing 11 turnovers in the second. Kenefick drilled a three on the last possession of the half for Central, cutting the lead at halftime to 33-19.
• Coming out of the halftime break, it was clear that Coach Reaves had made some major adjustments for the Blue Devils. And judging by the start of the third, it worked. The Blue Devils scored eight straight points to open up the second half. The Mount's Kendall Bresee scored all 12 of their points in the third, while the Blue Devils scored 23 points on 60 percent shooting. Ashley Berube drained a three on CCSU's last possession of the third, her fifth this season, that brought the Blue Devils to within one after they had been trailing by as much as 21 points.
• Some quick fouls and turnovers from CCSU helped the Mount regain their lead at the start of the fourth quarter. The Blue Devils fought tooth-and-nail to get back into this one and got the Mount lead back down to five, but then MSM decided to start hitting their threes. A five point lead quickly became eight and the Mount were well on their way to victory. A deepppppppppp three from Eden Nibbelink brought CCSU to within double digits again, but this one was already all but wrapped.

NOTES

• Though the Mount has used the three ball often this year and have the school record holder on their roster, they could not find their shot from deep for most of this game. The Mount did not hit their first three until the fourth quarter on Sunday.
• After the Mount had doubled CCSU on the boards in the first quarter (16-8) the Blue Devils won the battle of the glass the rest of the way, outrebounding the Mount 22-16.
• Nibbelink was lighting it up from downtown all game, shooting 3-5 from beyond the arc. She finished the day with 11 points.
• Berube led the charge with 17 points scoring.
• Lanpher contributed 12 off the bench, and as always brought some gritty defense to the court. She drew yet another charge in Sunday's match, an artform the guard has mastered this season.

UP NEXT...

The Blue Devils will be back on the road again, traveling to LIU on Thursday.