Women’s Basketball Battles In Front Of Youth Day Crowd

The Central Connecticut women’s basketball team dropped a competitive Youth Day game, 69-66 o visiting New Hampshire on Wednesday morning at Kaiser Hall. The Blue Devils committed just eight turnovers and shot 40 percent from the field in their final home game of the calendar year. 

Jessica Farrell led the Blue Devils in scoring for the second consecutive game, netting a career-best 19 points. Lucia Noin tallied 16 points, and Kiyah Lewis rounded out the double-digit scorers with a dozen. 

Score:  UNH 69, CCSU 66 
Records: CCSU (0-10), UNH (4-7) 
Location: Kaiser Hall | New Britain, CT 

• UNH pushed its lead to four, 17-13 with :48 ticks left in the first period before Cierra Pearson knocked down a triple on the Blue Devils final possession of the period to close within a point 

• Central shot 47.4 percent from the field in the second quarter, scoring 12 of the first 14 points to take a 27-19 advantage on a Nicora Patrick basket with 6:58 remaining before halftime and forcing a UNH timeout 

• The run continued out of the stoppage of play, and the lead expanded to 11 points on a Farrell triple with 4:28 remaining in the first half, 32-21. A Noin basket with 3:20 to play in the quarter put the lead back to double digits for the final time as UNH closed the period on an 8-2 run to climb within 36-31 

• The Wildcats opened the second half with an 11-4 run to put them in front 42-40 at the 4:27 mark. Lewis converted a conventional three-point play to give CCSU a 43-42 lead 41 seconds later, the last Blue Devil advantage of the game. UNH scored the next nine points and finished the period with 11 of 15 points to take a 53-48 lead into the final period. 

• UNH scored nine of the first 11 points in the fourth quarter, opening its largest lead of the game, 62-51 with 7:37 to play in the final period, when Eva DeChent scored in the paint 

• The Blue Devils made their next three baskets, with a triple from Lewis a layup from Noin and a layup from Kayla Henry, all in 73 seconds. That was the start of a 9-0 run that Henry closed with a basket at the 3:53 mark to close within 62-60 

• The squads traded baskets on the next two possessions, before Henry drained a pair of free throws with 2:23 to play to draw the Blue Devils event, 64-64. 

• Elizabeth Lavoie knocked down a three-pointers on the next UNH possession to put the Wildcats in front for good, despite a pair of Farrell free throws with 1:50 to play and a pair of looks in the final seconds 

40.0 – The Blue Devils shooting percentage for the game, the best of the season, as they knocked down 26-65 and were good on 43.8 percent, also a season-best 7-16 from behind the arc