Central Women Open Important Road Trip At Stonehill On Saturday

The Central Connecticut State women's basketball team (8-17, 7-5 NEC) opens a key NEC road trip in the battle for conference championship tournament positioning on Saturday afternoon, as the Blue Devils head to Easton, Massachusetts to face the Shyhawks of Stonehill College.  On Thursday night, CCSU edged Chicago State at home, 62-61, to extend the team's winning streak to two games.  The Skyhawks (13-12, 9-3 NEC) head into Saturday's play on a four-game winning streak off a 77-64 home triumph over Wagner on Thursday.  Stonehill has not lost since falling to the Blue Devils in Connecticut, 71-59, on February 1.

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With their win earlier this season, the Blue Devils now lead the all-time series with the Skyhawks, 3-2.

A LOOK BACK AT THURSDAY NIGHT'S HOME WIN OVER CHICAGO STATE :

•  A pair of clutch free throws by Kayla Henry with 14.1 seconds gave the Central Connecticut State women's basketball team a 62-60 lead which they never relinquished in Detrick Gymnasium on Thursday night, as the Blue Devils edged the visiting Chicago State University Cougars, 62-61. Belle Lanpher led CCSU with a game-high 19 points.  She was joined in double-digit scoring by three teammates, Lucia Noin and Meghan Kenefick with 13 points each and Amaya Williams with 10 points.   Lanpher had a stellar all-around game in the victory adding eight assists, seven rebounds and three steals.  Noin led Central on the boards with 11 rebounds to give her a double-double in consecutive games.  Along with her game-winning free throws, Kayla Henry also had nine rebounds and added seven points against the Cougars. 

THIS YEAR'S FIRST MEETING BETWEEN THE BLUE DEVILS AND SKYHAWKS (2/1/25):

• Trailing by five points, 48-43, entering the fourth quarter, CCSU exploded on offense in the fourth quarter, outscoring the visiting Stonehill College Shyhawks, 28-11, to post a 71-59 comeback Northeast Conference victory in Detrick Gymnasium.  Central graduate student guard Belle Lanpher led all scorers in the game with 26 points.  She was joined in double figures by red-shirt, freshman Selina Monestime with 16 points, 14 of which came in the second half to help spearhead her team's comeback and senior Amaya Williams chipped in 11 points for the winners.  Monestime led CCSU on the boards with six rebounds, and freshman Jessica Farrell pulled five rebounds for the Blue Devils.   Brooke Paquette led three Stonehill players in double figures with 18 points, and teammate Kylie Swider finished with a double-double of 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITON:

•    The Stonehill College Skyhawks come into Saturday's action on a four-game winning streak with a 13-12 overall record and a 9-3 NEC mark.  After losing at CCSU on February 1, the Skyhawks have posted wins over LIU, Saint Francis, Mercyhurst and a 77-64 victory over Wagner on Thursday evening.
•    The Skyhawks were predicted to finish fourth in the Northeast Conference standings in this year's preseason league coaches' poll.
•    Senior Sharn Hayward leads the team in scoring averaging 16.4 points per game.  The native of Tasmania is a true threat from behind the three-point arc, as she has knocked down 87 triples so far this season and is hitting almost 40 percent (39.4%) from downtown.  Graduate student, Kylie Swider is second in scoring averaging 13.4 points per outing, and she leads the team in rebounding grabbing 9.0 boards per game.  Sophomore Brooke Paquette rounds out a trio of Skyhawks in double-digit scoring averaging 12.1 ppg.
•   As a team, Stonehill is averaging 64.8 points and 36.7 rebounds per contest, and the Skyhawks are allowing the opposition 66.4 points per game plus opponents are pulling down an average of 33.5 rebounds per game.
• Stonehill is led by veteran head coach Trisha Brown, who is her 24th season as the Skyhawks' mentor.

THIS AND THAT:

•   CCSU's number two ranking in the Preseason Northeast Conference Coaches' Poll is the highest ranking in program history.
•  With her 19 points on Thursday, Belle Lanpher has now scored a total of 1391 career points heading into Saturday's game at Stonehill. Lanpher is now 20 points away from moving into the third slot on CCSU's all-time scoring list.   Belle has reached double figures in all 15 games she has played this season and a total of 18 straight outings.  So far in 2024-25, Lanpher is averaging a team-leading 22.0 points per game along with a team-best 5.9 rebounds per contest. 
•   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), 1,391 points
•  Graduate student Meghan Kenefick, who netted 13 points in the win over Chicago State on Thursday, is second on the Blue Devils in scoring averaging 8.7 points per game, and she has grabbed 5.6 rebounds per outing (6.5 rpg. in NEC play).  Kenefick has now pulled down a total of 570 rebounds for her career. 
•   Freshman Dagny Slomack is third on this season's CCSU scoring list averaging 7.9 points per game.
•   Lucia Noin has now had back-to-back double-double performances after scoring 13 points and pulling down a career-high 11 rebounds against Chicago State on Thursday evening.  At Saint Francis last Saturday, Lucia had 17 points and 10 rebounds.
•   As a team, the Blue Devils are averaging 59.4 points per game (65.5 ppg. in NEC play) and allowing the opposition to score an average of 66.7 points per outing (63.9 in conference play).  On the glass, Central is pulling down an average of 35.9 rebounds per game; while the opposition is averaging 38.1 rebounds per contest.  Central has outrebounded its opponents in eight of its last 11 games after winning the battle of the boards versus Chicago State by a 44-35 margin. 

UP NEXT:

•   The Blue Devils wrap up their two-game road trip in Syracuse, New York at LeMoyne on Thursday, February 27.  Game time is set for 6:00 p.m.  Stonehill is in action at NEC-leader FDU that same day with an 11:00 a.m. tip-off.