Blue Devils Fall 60-48 at Robert Morris Saturday

The Central Connecticut women's basketball team fell to the Robert Morris Colonials 60-48 on Saturday afternoon at the Sewall Center in Moon Township, PA. The Blue Devils drop to 15-9 overall on the season and 11-2 in Northeast Conference play. Robert Morris improves to 13-11 overall and 11-2 in the NEC. Central was led by junior TeJahne Malone who recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 17 points and 12 rebounds.

The loss snaps an eight-game winning streak for the Blue Devils, which was the longest streak under head coach Beryl Piper, and moves the Colonials into a tie for first place in the NEC with the Blue Devils at 11-2.

The Blue Devils trailed at the half 36-27. It marked just the eighth time all season and second time in Northeast Conference play that CCSU was down heading into the locker room.

The Colonials opened the game on a 12-0 run and kept the Blue Devils scoreless for the first 6:02 of the game. Central was ice cold from the floor to start the game, hitting on just two of its first 14 shots (14.3%).

Robert Morris would use another 8-0 run from the 12:45 mark to 10:46 to play in the half to extend their lead to 18, 22-4, their largest of the half.

The Blue Devils would respond, however, in a big way with a key 11-3 run to close out the half. Central cut the Colonial lead to as little as six points with 1:16 to play after junior Nicole Ferguson buried a three from the left wing, but Lou Mataly hit a last second three in the corner to give Robert Morris the 36-27 lead at the break.

The Blue Devils shot 31.4% (11-35) from the field, including just 16.7% (2-12) from three in the half. Junior TeJahne Malone led CCSU with nine points and six rebounds at the intermission.

Robert Morris connected on 53.6% (15-28) of their shots from the field in the half, including 42.9% (3-7) from beyond the arc. Anna Niki Stamolamprou paced the Colonials in the first half with 10 points. 

The Colonials started the second half similar to the first, shooting the ball extremely well. They used a 14-5 run to re-take an 18 point lead, 56-38 with 8:36 to play in the game. The lead would be the largest for the Colonials in the second half.

The Blue Devils threatened and cut the Robert Morris to 13, 46-59, with just over two minutes to play in the game, but couldn't get anything to fall in the final minutes to make a run as the final buzzer sounded with the Colonials on top 60-48.

Junior TeJahne Malone recorded her sixth double-double of the season in the loss. She finished the game with 17 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, including nine on the offensive end. Malone connected on eight-of-15 shots from the floor and was 1-for-1 from the free throw line.

Senior Kaley Watras added 11 points for CCSU and finished with four rebounds and three assists.

The Blue Devils will return to action as they look to bounce back from the loss on Monday night in Loretto, PA at 7 p.m. in a NEC contest against Saint Francis U.