Women's Basketball Falls Short at Fordham Sunday, 63-48

The Central Connecticut women's basketball team fell to Fordham, 63-48, on Sunday afternoon inside Rose Hill Gym in the Bronx, NY. With the loss the Blue Devils slide to 2-8 on the season while the Rams improve to 4-7 overall with the victory. Junior Kayla Miller led the way for the Blue Devils with a team-high 13 points.

Fordham jumped out to a quick 9-0 start on the Blue Devils in the first quarter. The Rams' Samantha Clark and Hannah Missry buried back-to-back three pointers to cap off the early spurt and forced a CCSU timeout just 3:12 into the game.

Central responded though and outscored Fordham 15-6 over the next five and a half minutes of play to tie the game, 15-15, with 1:21 to play in the opening period. The run was fueled by sophomore Emma Stroyan who had eight points over that span and a Miller baseline jumper knotted the score to cap the run.

The Rams would punch right back however and closed out the first quarter with a 5-0 run to retake the lead 20-15 at the end of the first period. That would be as close as the Blue Devils would come as Fordham went on to lead for the remainder of the game.

The Rams used the momentum at the end of the first quarter and carried it over to the second, adding a 4-0 spurt to go up by nine, 25-15, at the 7:48 mark of the second period. Fordham went on to build their lead to as big as 12, 29-17, at the 3:48 mark of the second stanza after a Clark layup, but the Blue Devils were able to cut the lead to 10 heading into the locker rooms, 31-21 at the half.

The second half proved to be a back and forth affair, but the Blue Devils just couldn't swing the momentum for a big run at any point over the final 20 minutes of play. Miller opened the second half hitting another baseline jumper to pull Central within single digits, 31-23, but that would be as close at they would get for the remainder of the game after Missry buried a three on the next Fordham possession.

The Rams led 46-33 at the end of the third period and then went on to build their largest lead of the game 54-38 with 6:13 to play in regulation after another Missry three pointer. Junior Giocelis Reynoso converted a layup late in the fourth quarter to pull CCSU within 13, 61-48, but a pair of free throws by Fordham with under a minute to play sealed the 63-48 victory.

Central shot 34.6% (18-52) from the floor in the game, including 36.4% (4-11) from beyond the arc. They also hit eight-of-11 attempts from the free throw line, good for a 72.7% clip. Miller led the Blue Devils with 13 points and she was joined in double-figures by sophomore Camden Musgrave who finished with 10.

Fordham was 42.2% (19-45) shooting from the field, including 30.4% (7-23) from distance. The Rams also shot 75.0% (18-24) from the free throw line in the game. They were lead by Clark who finished with a game-high 23 points and she was joined by Missry in double-figures who finished with 13 points.

The Rams dominated the glass in the game out-rebounding the Blue Devils 37-28. Clark had a game-high nine for Fordham while Miller led the way for CCSU with six. Junior point guard Aleah Epps had a game-high five assists and three steals.

The CCSU women's basketball team will take nine days off for winter break before they return to action next for a game against Dartmouth at home on Tuesday, Dec. 29. Tip-off between the Blue Devils and Big Green is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside Detrick Gymnasium and all of the action can be seen live, for free, on NECFrontRow.com.