Women's Basketball Cruises Past Saint Francis U on Saturday, 79-59

Four Blue Devils scored in double figures as the Central Connecticut women's basketball team cruised to a 79-59 victory at Saint Francis U on Saturday afternoon in Loretto, PA. Central never trailed in the game to sweep the season series against the Red Flash and improve to 9-13 overall and 6-5 in Northeast Conference action. SFU falls to 8-14 overall and 6-5 in the NEC with the loss.

Junior Aleah Epps led four Blue Devils in double figures with a game-high 15 points. Senior TeJahne Malone and sophomore Camden Musgrave added 14 each and sophomore Emma Stroyan chipped in with 12.

Central opened the game strong jumping out to an early 10-1 lead just four minutes into the game and would never look back. Four straight points from Stroyan on a layup and pair of free throws followed by a deep three pointer by Musgrave capped the early spurt to put CCSU up for good.

The Blue Devils maintained a steady lead throughout the first quarter and then a quick 6-0 run gave them their largest lead of the first half, 21-9, with just over a minute to play in the opening period. The Red Flash converted on their final possession to cut the CCSU lead to 21-11 after one quarter. Central's defense held Saint Francis to just 3-of-15 (20.0%) shooting in the quarter making the Red Flash just 4-of-34 (11.8%) over the last two quarters that they had played against the Blue Devils.

Saint Francis U would not go down easily though and opened the second quarter with a quick 5-0 spurt to make it 21-16 Blue Devils, but CCSU responded and pushed its lead back to 30-20 at the 5:25 mark after a layup by Musgrave and free throw from freshman Andi Lydon.

The Red Flash chipped away at the Blue Devil lead again late in the second quarter and cut the margin to six, 40-34, at halftime. SFU's Katie Reese converted an old fashioned three point play with 10 seconds left before the intermission to pull the Red Flash within striking distance.

CCSU struck first in the second half as Malone scored on the Blue Devils opening possession, but the Red Flash would answer with four straight points to cut the CCSU lead to just 42-38. It would be the closest Saint Francis U would get for the remainder of the game though as the Blue Devils returned with a 7-0 run to take a 49-38 advantage with 5:38 to play in the third quarter. Stroyan completed the run with three of her seven third quarter points coming on a three-point play.

The Blue Devils led 63-51 at the end of the third quarter and then the final period was all Central as they outscored the Red Flash 16-8. CCSU would hit nine-of-10 free throws down the stretch to secure the 79-59 victory, including four-of-four from Malone who had all of her 14 points in the second half.

Central shot 46.7% (28-60) from the floor and converted at a 72.4% (21-29) clip from the free throw line in the game. They dominated the glass out-rebounding the Red Flash 47-37 and forced 14 SFU turnovers turning them into 25 points.

The Red Flash hit for 32.3% (21-65) from the field and were just 12.0% (3-25) from beyond the arc in the contest. Freshman Jessica Kovatch led the way for SFU with 11 points, all coming the second half.

The CCSU women's basketball team will return to action next as they complete the annual Western, PA trip at Robert Morris on Monday night. Tip-off between the Blue Devils and Colonials is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be featured on ESPN3.