Women's Basketball Falls To Chicago State In NEC Quarterfinals

The third-seeded Central Connecticut State women's basketball team saw its 2024-25 season come to an end on Monday night with a 70-60 home loss to the sixth-seeded Chicago State University Cougars.  CCSU ends the 2024-25 campaign with an 11-19 overall record; while the Cougars move on to play second-seeded Stonehill on Thursday in the conference semifinals.  Freshman Dagny Slomack led CCSU with 16 points on Monday, and she was joined in double figures by graduate student Belle Lanpher with 15 points and junior Lucia Noin with 13.  Junior Cierra Pearson led the Blue Devils in rebounding with nine boards, and sophomore Kayla Henry had eight rebounds.  Josie Hill led four Cougars with a game-high 21 points, and she finished with a double-double for the winners grabbing a game-best 12 rebounds.

GAME INFORMATION |BOX SCORE

Score:  Chicago State 70, CCSU 60  
Records: CCSU (11-19, 10-6 NEC), Chicago State (7-25, 6-10 NEC)
Location: Detrick Gymnasium |New Britain, Conn.

KEY MOMENTS

• After the Cougars hit a three to open the game, NEC Player of the Year Belle Lanpher scored at the 9:03 mark to get CCSU on the board.
• Led by seven points from Lanpher, the Blue Devils led Chicago State, 10-7, at the first quarter media break that came at the 4:52 mark.
• Chicago State closed the quarter on a 9-0 run to take a 14-10 lead after 10 minutes of play.  Central did not score in the final 6:46 of the opening frame.
• The Blue Devils opened the second quarter on a 13-8 run to grab a slim one-point lead, 23-22, at the second quarter media timeout that came 2:19 before halftime.
• A three-point shot by Chicago State's Aiyanna Culver 23 seconds before halftime gave the visitors a 25-23 lead at the break. Belle Lanpher led the Blue Devils with seven points at the half; followed by Lucia Noin with six.  The Cougars Aiyanna Culver led all players in the game during the first 20 minutes of play with 10 points.  Noin and Kayla henry led CCSU on the glass with five rebounds apiece in the first half.  The first half featured two ties and six lead changes.
• The Cougars scored the first five points of the second half to take a 30-23 lead at the 8:01 mark of the third.
• The visitors would extend that advantage to eight points, 34-26, their largest lead of the game to that point with 5:59 to go in the third quarter.
• The Cougars extended their advantage to 11 points, their largest lead of the game, 44-33 heading into the final quarter.  Chicago State outscored CCSU, 19-10, in the third period.
• The visitors opened the fourth quarter on slight 6-4 run to take a 13-point lead 50-37 with 7:12 to play forcing the Blue Devils to call timeout.
• CCSU pulled to with six points at 50-44 with 6:05 when Lucia Noin hit a jumper, but the Blue Devils would come no closer, as the visitors closed the contest on a 20-16 run to claim the 70-60 victory.
• Central outscored Chicago State, 27-26, in a high-scoring final period.

NUMBER TO KNOW

1506–Belle Lanpher's career scoring total placing her third on the CCSU all-time women's basketball scoring list.

NOTES

• With her 15 points in the season finale, Belle Lanpher scored a total of 1506 career points.  Belle reached double figures in all 20 games she has played this season and a total of 23 straight dating back to last season.  She finished this season averaging 22.3 points per game. 
• Meghan Kenefick finished her stellar CCSU career with a total of 812 points and 598 rebounds
• Dagny Slomack finished her freshman season by reaching double-digit scoring in 14 games, and she finished the season averaging 9.0 points per game.  She also connected on a team-leading 49 three-point shots this year.
• Amaya Williams and Meghan Kenefick were the only two Blue Devils to see action in all of the squad's 30 games this season.
• Monday night marked the first time since 2015 that Central Connecticut State has hosted a postseason women's basketball game.