NEW BRITAIN, Conn. – Trialing by ten at the half, the Sacred Herat University women's basketball team came back to tie the game and even take the lead momentarily, but could not hold and eventually fell to Central Connecticut State, 70-58, on Saturday afternoon in the William H. Detrick Gymnasium. Despite the loss, SHU still clinched its 16th straight postseason bid due to other results in the conference. Gabrielle Washington led three Pioneers in double figures with 16, 11 of which came in the first half, as SHU falls to 13-11 and 8-6 in the Northeast Conference. Camden Musgrave led all scorers with 20 to help CCSU improve to 16-10 and 11-4 in league play.
Down 35-25 at the break, Sacred Heart used a 19-8 run out of the locker room, ended by an 11-1 flurry, to ultimately take its first lead since the 14:50 mark of the first half. Adaysha Williams led the charge with a three point play, and after five Hannah Kimmel points and two Katie Shepard free throws, Washington's jumper with 11:09 remaining give SHU the 44-43 advantage.
The Pioneers would go scoreless for the next 3:57 though, and the Blue Devils took advantage with 12 straight to ultimately seal the victory. Aleah Epps spearheaded the charge, scoring 8 of the twelve. She first regained the Blue Devil lead just nine seconds after Washington gave the Pioneers the lead. Amanda Harrington then made two straight layups before Epps finished the run with the last six. She made 2-2 from the line in between two baskets, the second a layup that gave Central a 55-44 lead 7:24 on the clock.
Sacred Heart looked to comeback with four straight points over the next 1:03 capped by a Kimmel layup at the 6:21 mark. The following three minutes the Pioneers got as close as seven twice more, the latter after Kimmel made another driving layup to make the score, 59-52, but each time CCSU responded. After Kimmel's layup, Musgrave made nailed a triple with 2:53 to go and SHU would not get closer than nine the remainder of the contest.
The Pioneers could not overcome 36.0 percent shooting (18-50) and 18 turnovers. They also only shot 23.8 percent (5-21) from deep and 60.7 percent (17-28) from the charity stripe. CCSU turned the ball over 16 times itself, but made 47.8 of its shots (22-46), including 41.2 percent of its threes (7-17).
Kimmel and Williams joined Washington in double figures with 12 points each. Kimmell added a game-high eight rebounds. Shepard tallied a game-high 5 assists. Epps was the only other Blue Devil in double figures, scoring 11 points.
The Pioneers did jump out to an early lead, 8-2, with Washington draining her second three just 2:06 in. Central took over from there, scoring 17 of the next 19. After Tarsi answered a Tejahne Malone three point play with 16:41 remaining to give SHU a 10-5 lead, the team would go scoreless for the next 8:05. The Blue Devils scored 14 unanswered during that stretch, taking control with a 19-10 lead. Musgrave scored eight straight at one point, including two threes, the second with 13:34 left. Two Kaley Watras free throw with 9:44 showing ended the flurry.
Sacred Heart would try to get back in it with four straight points, cutting the deficit to just five, 19-14, after a Katherine Haines foul shot with 7:43 on the clock. The Blue Devils scored seven of the next nine though, sparking a 13-5 run to gain its largest lead of the game, 32-19. Nicole Ferguson made two straight triples and then assisted on Epps' trifecta with 1:46 remaining that ended the surge. The Pioneers scored four straight to get back within single digits, but again Ferguson connected from deep to push the lead back to 12. Washington's jumper 20 second before the buzzer made the Central lead ten, 35-25, going into the break.
The Pioneers will look to rebound on Monday night when they host the first place Robert Morris Colonials at 7 pm. The game was selected as the NEC Wild Card game and will be broadcast on ESPN 3.
