Women's Basketball Falls at Sacred Heart Saturday, 79-69

The Central Connecticut women's basketball team fell to the Sacred Heart Pioneers on Saturday, 79-69, inside the William H. Pitt Center in Fairfield, CT. The Pioneers staved off a late Blue Devil surge hitting six-of-six free throws down the stretch to secure the victory and drop Central to 9-15 overall and 6-7 in NEC action. SHU shot 93.1% (27-29) from the free throw line in the game and improves to 13-11 on the year and 11-2 in the NEC.

Senior TeJahne Malone led three Blue Devils in double-figures for CCSU in the game. Malone finished with 17 points and a team-high six rebounds, while junior Aleah Epps and freshman Kiana Patterson added 16 points and 10 points, respectively.

The first half proved to be a back-and-forth affair that saw the game tied six different times and the lead change hands five times. However, a 7-2 run by the Pioneers over the final three minutes of the second quarter gave SHU a 33-28 advantage at the break.

Sacred Heart carried the momentum over into the second half and opened the third quarter with a 6-2 run to take its largest lead at the time, 41-30. All of SHU's points over that span came from the charity stripe.

The Blue Devils would respond and get back within 41-35 after five straight points from Epps, but then a 9-2 spurt by the Pioneers would open their lead back up to 50-37. SHU's Alissa Tarsi had six straight points to fuel the run the Pioneers.

Central trailed 54-41 heading into the final period and a 10-6 spurt by Sacred Heart to open the fourth quarter gave the Pioneers a 64-47 lead, their largest of the game, with 5:48 left to play in regulation.

CCSU would not lay down easily though and made things interesting over the final five minutes of the game. A quick 6-0 burst cut the Pioneers lead to 64-53 and then a 16-7 run pulled the Blue Devils within six, 75-69, with just under a minute to play. High pressure defense and three triples, including a pair from Patterson, in the final five minutes of regulation powered the CCSU surge.

The Pioneers lead proved to be just a bit to large though and SHU hit four straight free throw to end the game for the, 79-69, victory.

Central shot 41.4% (24-58) in the game, including 30.4% (7-23) from beyond the arc. They also hit for 77.8% (14-18) from the free throw line. Malone led the Blue Devils with 17 points and six rebounds. She was six-of-15 shooting from the floor and converted five-of-six free throw attempts and added two blocks and two steals.

Sacred Heart was 45.1% (23-51) from the floor in the contest, including 37.5% (6-16) from distance. They shot 93.1% (27-29) from the chalk, including 96.2% (25-26) in the second half. Tarsi had a career-game to pace the Pioneers with 23 points and 15 rebounds. Kelcey Castro also chipped in with 14 points and five assists for SHU.

The CCSU women's basketball team will return to action next as they complete a four-game road swing on Monday night at LIU Brooklyn. Tip-off between the Blue Devils and Blackbirds is scheduled for 7 p.m. and all of the action can be seen live, for free, on NECFrontRow.com.