Women's Basketball Hits The Road At Wagner On Saturday

The Central Connecticut State women's basketball team (3-13, 2-1 NEC) plays its first Northeast Conference game of 2025 away from Detrick Gymnasium and opens  up a three-game road trip on Saturday afternoon  at 4:00 p.m. when CCSU heads to Staten Island to take on the Wagner College Seahawks (4-10, 1-1 NEC).  The Blue Devils will be looking to run their winning streak to three after topping LIU at home, 52-48, on Thursday after posting a 78-52 victory over Mercyhurst on January 4.  Wagner fell at FDU, 75-49, on January 4 in the Seahawks' last action.

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CCSU holds a slim 24-23 lead in the all-time series versus Wagner.  Last season, the teams split their two games, as they each won on their homecourts with the Seahawks posting a 49-45 triumph in the Spiro Sports Center on January 27, 2024 and the Blue Devils prevailing, 69-61, in New Britain on February 22, 2024.The Central win in the teams' last meeting snapped an eight-game losing streak in the series for CCSU.

A LOOK BACK AT THURSDAY'S VICTORY OVER LIU:

• Graduate student guard Belle Lanpher notched her second career double-double with game highs in points with 25 and rebounds with 11 to help lead the Central Connecticut State women's basketball team to a 52-48 home Northeast Conference win over the Long Island University Sharks in Detrick Gymnasium on Thursday night.  CCSU overcame a slow start to the game to come back for the victory, as the Sharks led 10-0 after three minutes of play.  Lanpher's classmate Meghan Kenefick played all 40 minutes for the winners on Thursday, and she contributed eight points and seven rebounds for the Blue Devils

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION:

•    The Seahawks of Wagner College come into Saturday's action  with a 4-10 overall record and a 1-1 Northeast Conference mark having opened NEC play with an 85-73 road win over Chicago State on January 2 before losing at FDU, 75-49, last Saturday.  Wagner's other wins this season have come against Saint Elizabeth (83-39), NJIT (62-60) and SUNY-Old Westbury (133-34).
•    The Seahawks were slotted in sixth place in this year's preseason NEC Women's Basketball Coaches' Poll.
•    Graduate student Taleah Washington leads the team in scoring so far this season averaging 16.3 points per game.  She is followed by classmate Julia Fabozzi at 16.1 points per outing, and Fabozzi also leads the team in rebounding averaging 6.4 boards per game.
•   As a team, the Seahawks are averaging 59.8 points and 34.4 rebounds per contest, and they are allowing the opposition 70.1 points per game plus opponents are pulling down an average of 37.9 rebounds per game.
•   Wagner is led by head coach Terrell Coburn, who is in his fourth season as the Seahawks' mentor.  Last year, the team went 7-21 overall and 4-12 in Northeast Conference play.

THIS AND THAT:

•   CCSU's number two ranking in the Preseason Northeast Conference Coaches' Poll is the highest ranking in program history.
•   Coming off her second career double-double with 25 points and 11 rebounds versus LIU in Thursday night's victory, graduate student Belle Lanpher leads Central in scoring average at 18.3 points per game, as she has reached double figures in all six games she has played so far this season after missing the first 10 games of the year due to injury.  Belle is also averaging an impressive 5.7 rebounds from the Blue Devils' backcourt.  She has also gone 31-of-34 from the free throw stripe (91.2%) so far this season.  Her 11 rebounds on Thursday tied her career best set at Sacred Heart on February 25, 2023.
•  Classmate Meghan Kenefick, who played all 40 minutes on Thursday, is next in scoring averaging 9.3 points, and she has grabbed 4.8 rebounds per outing.  Kenefick now has 507 career rebounds after pulling down seven against LIU.
•   Freshman Dagny Slomack is third on this season's CCSU scoring list averaging 9.0 points per game
•   Fellow freshman Selina Monestime is next in scoring averaging at 8.0 points per game, and she is second on the Blue Devils in rebounding grabbing and average of 5.1 per game
•    As a team, the Blue Devils are averaging 55.8 points per game and allowing the opposition to score an average of 67.4 points per outing.  On the glass, Central is pulling down an average of 34.4 rebounds per game; while the opposition is averaging 39.4 rebounds per contest.
•    CCSU went 17-of-21 (81.0%) from the foul line on Thursday.

UP NEXT:

•   The Blue Devils continue their three-game conference road trip next Saturday, January 18 in New Jersey against FDU.  Game time is slated for 1:00 p.m., and the matchup will be televised on the YES Network.  Wagner heads to Erie, Pennsylvania to face NEC newcomer, Mercyhurst next Saturday at 1:00 p.m.