Women's Hoops Hosts Chicago State On Thursday At 7:00 p.m.

The Central Connecticut State women's basketball team (7-17, 6-5 NEC) returns to the friendly confines of Detrick Gymnasium following a two-game Pennsylvania road swing on Thursday night, as the Blue Devils host the Cougars of Chicago State University in the squad's penultimate regular season home contest. In their last game, CCSU picked up a hard-fought, 70-67, NEC road victory over Saint Francis on Saturday afternoon.  The Cougars (4-23, 4-8 NEC) come to Connecticut off a 76-60 home triumph over LeMoyne on Saturday.

LIVE STATS | WATCH |

Chicago State picked up a win in the inaugural meeting between the two schools on the women's basketball court on January 23, 2025 when the Cougars topped Central, 84-77.

A LOOK BACK AT SATURDAY'S OT WIN AT SAINT FRAINCIS:

• A pair of Belle Lanpher free throws with 30 seconds to play in overtime snapped a 66-66 tie and gave the Blue Devils a 68-66 advantage which they would not relinquished on their way to a 70-67 Northeast Conference road victory in Loretto, Pennsylvania.  The win snapped a two-game Central losing skid.  Lanpher led CCSU with a game-high 26 points.  She was joined in double-digit scoring by a pair of players that starred off the Central bench in Lucia Noin with 17 points and Jessica Farrell with 11 points.  Noin finished with her first double-double in a Blue Devils' uniform, as she grabbed a career-high and team-best 10 rebounds.   

THIS YEAR'S FIRST MEETING BETWEEN THE BLUE DEVILS AND COUGARS (1/23/25):

• Four Blue Devils reached double-digit scoring, but it was not enough for the Central Connecticut State women's basketball team, as CCSU closed out its three-game, January NEC road trip with an 84-77 loss against the host Chicago State University Cougars.  With the game tied at 19-19 after the first quarter, the Cougars opened the second period on a 7-0 run to take a 26-19 lead and never trailed for the remainder of the contest.  CCSU graduate student guard Belle Lanpher had another outstanding outing in Chicago, as she led her team with 29 points; falling just one point shy of her third consecutive game with at least 30 points.  Lanpher also grabbed eight rebounds and dished out six assists against the Cougars.  She was joined in double figures by senior Amaya Williams with 14 points, classmate Meghan Kenefick with 11 points and freshman Dagny Slomack with 10 points.  Kenefick finished with a double-double on the night grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds.   Aiyanna Culver led three Chicago State players in double figures with a career and game-high 33 points.  Teammate Josie Hill had a double-double for the Cougars with 14 points and 11 boards.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITON:

•    The Chicago State University Cougars come into play on Thursday with a 4-23 overall record and a 4-8 Northeast Conference mark.  The Cougars, a Northeast Conference newcomer in 2024-25, snapped a three-game losing streak with a 76-60 home victory over LeMoyne.
•    Chicago State was predicted to finish in a tie for eighth place in the NEC standings in this year's preseason league coaches' poll.
•    The Cougars are 1-13 away from the Windy City so far this season.
•    Freshman Alyanna Culver leads the team in scoring averaging 14.1 points per game.  She is joined in double figures by junior Josie Hill at 11.2 points per game, and Hill also leads the team on the boards at 6.7 rebounds per game.
•   As a team, the Cougars are averaging an even 60.0 points and 34.1 rebounds per contest, and they are allowing the opposition 79.1 points per game plus opponents are pulling down an average of 44.9 rebounds per game.
• The Cougars are led by Corry Irvin, who is in her first season as Chicago State's head coach.  Last year, the team went 1-26 playing as a Division 1 Independent.

THIS AND THAT:

•   CCSU's number two ranking in the Preseason Northeast Conference Coaches' Poll is the highest ranking in program history.
•  With her 26 points on Saturday, Belle Lanpher has now scored a total of 1372 career points heading into Thursday's home game against Chicago State. Lanpher is now 39 points away from moving into the third slot on CCSU's all-time scoring list.   Belle has reached double figures in all 14 games she has played this season and a total of 17 straight outings.  So far in 2024-25, Lanpher is averaging 22.2 points per game. 
•   CCSU's Top Four All-Time Women's Basketball Career Scorers: 1-Hope Linthicum (1982-87), 1,773 points, 2-Gabriella Guegbelet (2003-07), 1,700 points, 3-Kiana Patterson (2015-19), 1,410 points, 4-Belle Lanpher (2020-present), 1,372 points
•  Graduate student Meghan Kenefick is second on the Blue Devils in scoring averaging 8.5 points per game, and she has grabbed 5.7 rebounds per outing (6.8 rpg. in NEC play).  Kenefick has now pulled down a total of 567 rebounds for her career.  She also snuffed out a Saint Francis attempt to tie last Saturday's contest when she blocked a three-point try at the buzzer.
•   Freshman Dagny Slomack is third on this season's CCSU scoring list averaging 8.2 points per game.
•   Lucia Noin notched her first double-double in a Central uniform on Saturday at Saint Francis with a 17-point, 10-rebound performance.  Those 10 rebounds are a career-high for Lucia.
•   As a team, the Blue Devils are averaging 59.3 points per game (65.8 ppg. in NEC play) and allowing the opposition to score an average of 66.0 points per outing (64.2 in conference play).  On the glass, Central is pulling down an average of 35.6 rebounds per game; while the opposition is averaging 38.3 rebounds per contest.  Central has outrebounded its opponents in seven of its last 10 games.
•   Central has posted a 5-7 home record so far this season.

UP NEXT:

•   The Blue Devils head right back on the road to open a two-game sojourn away from New Britain with a tilt at Stonehill College on Saturday, February 22 at 2:00 p.m.  After taking on the Skyhawks, CCSU will travel to LeMoyne on Thursday, February 27; before returning to Detrick Gymnasium for the team's final regular season home game versus Wagner on the first day of the month of March.   Chicago State plays its final regular season road game of the 2024-25 on Saturday afternoon, as the Cougars travel to Staten Island to take on Wagner.  Game time is set for 12:00 p.m.