Women's Hoops Falls at Quinnipiac
The Central Connecticut women's basketball team fell to Quinnipiac, 58-49, on Wednesday night.
The Central Connecticut women's basketball team fell to Quinnipiac, 58-49, in the second game of a Northeast Conference Rivalry Week series on Wednesday night. The Blue Devils (11-14, 5-9 NEC) were led by 15 points from junior Jaclyn Babe.
The Bobcats (19-6, 11-3 NEC) took a 30-22 lead into halftime, but a close second half, 28-27, helped the Blue Devils remain in the game until the final minutes.
Central's best run of the game came with 13:18 left to play in the second half. Trailing 40-30, the Blue Devils stalled the Bobcat offense and delivered a seven-point outburst that cut Quinnipiac's lead to three points with 9:36 remaining.
Jaclyn Babe and sophomore Jaleen Thomas each scored on layups to cut the deficit to eight points. Freshman Kaley Watras converted the old fashion three point play after being fouled on a layup and Babe closed the run with a jumper that pulled her team within three.
From that point, Quinnipiac put the game away with a 15-4 run that set the score at 55-41.
Sophomore Lauren Arbogast scored four of her eight points in the final three minutes, but it was not enough as the Bobcats held on for a 58-49 victory.
The Blue Devils led early in the game, building their biggest lead with 9:15 left in the first. Central's four point lead came after junior Kirsten Daamen hit a jumper and freshman Johnna Fisher connected on three-of-four free throws to give her team a 16-12 advantage. Quinnipiac scored six straight points to erase the deficit and the Blue Devils never led again in the game.
Daamen finished with eight points. Fisher had three points, three rebounds and a block in six minutes of action.
Watras was the Blue Devils' second leading scorer with nine points. She trailed only Jaclyn Babe who finished with 15 points, including eight in the second half.
Arbogast and Thomas shared a team-high with eight rebounds each.
Sophomore Jessica Babe returned to action for the first time in six games. She posted two points, six rebounds and two assists in 24 minutes of play.
The Blue Devils return to action on Saturday at Robert Morris and then play again Monday night at St. Francis (PA).
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