CCSU Wins Eighth-Straight, Defeats St. Francis NY 61-43

The Central Connecticut women's basketball team took down St. Francis Brooklyn 61-43 on Monday night in New Britain. With the victory, the Blue Devils (15-8, 11-1 NEC) have increased their winning streak to eight-straight games. The Terriers fall to 7-17 on the season and 4-8 in NEC play. CCSU was led by senior Amanda Harrington who finished with a game-high 15 points and nine rebounds.

HIGHLIGHTS

The Blue Devils led at the half 27-18. It marks the 13th time this season against all opponents and 10th time against NEC opponents that the Blue Devils had the advantage heading into the locker room. 

Central used a huge 19-2 run that spanned the final 9:20 of the first half to take the lead into the break. The Blue Devil defense locked down St. Francis Brooklyn during the run and in the entire first half, limiting the Terriers to just 26.9% (7-26) shooting from the floor, including just 10.0% (1-10) from beyond the arc.

The 18 points limited by Central is also the least amount of points an opponent has scored in any half of basketball so far this season against the Blue Devils. 

Offensively, the Blue Devils struggled finding a rhythm early on in the half and trailed St. Francis 16-10 halfway through the first period. The lead for SFBK would be their largest of the game as the Blue Devils got things rolling and scored 12 unanswered points to take the lead for good, 22-16.

Senior Amanda Harrington led the way for CCSU at the half with eight points and seven rebounds. She was four-of-six shooting from the floor and added two assists and a pair of steals.

In the second stanza, the Blue Devils increased their lead to 12 with 16 minutes to play after a jumper by Aleah Epps. The Terriers answered, however, with a quick 8-0 run with five points coming from SFBK's Eilidh Simpson to pull within four of CCSU with 13 minutes remaining.

The Terriers would get no closer in the game as the Blue Devils responded with a quick 8-0 run of their own to push the lead back to 12, 42-30, with 9:42 left in regulation. The Blue Devils began to pull away and increased their lead to as much as 18 three separate times in the remainder of the game, including when the final buzzer sounded for the 61-43 victory.

Harrington finished with a game-high 15 points and nine rebounds on six-of-13 shooting and was a perfect three-of-thee from the charity stripe. She recorded a new career-high with six assists and also added three steals.

Freshman Camden Musgrave joined Harrington as the only other Blue Devil in double-figures with 13 points. Musgrave was four-of-five from the field, including three-of-four from three. She was also perfect from the free throw line, connecting on two-of-two attempts. 

The Blue Devils shot 43.6% (24-55) from the floor, including 70.0% (7-10) from distance. They shot 85.7% (6-7) from the free throw line in the game.

Central held St. Francis to 36.7% (18-49) shooting, the 10th time in 12 conference games that the Blue Devils have kept their opponents under 40.0%. The Blue Devil defense also held the Terriers to 22.2% (4-18) shooting from three.

CCSU also dominated the glass once again and out-rebounded SFBK 37-25 in the game, including 12-6 on the offensive end. CCSU had 19 second chance points to SFBK's seven.

The Central Connecticut women's basketball team will return to action as it begins its road trip to western PA next weekend. The first place Blue Devils will take on second place Robert Morris on Saturday at 4 p.m. in Moon Township, PA before traveling to Loretto, PA to face-off against Saint Francis U at 7 p.m on Monday night.