Women's Basketball Falls to Sacred Heart in Home-Opener

The Central Connecticut women's basketball team dropped its home-opener on Thursday night, falling to Sacred Heart 74-64 at Detrick Gymnasium. CCSU would gain its first lead of  the game on the opening possession of the second half, but SHU would respond with a seven-point run to regain the lead and would not trail again.

Kiyah Lewis, Lucia Noin and Jessica Farrell each scored in double-figures to pace the Blue Devils' offense. Lewis finished with a career-high 18 points, while Noin and Farrell added 13 and 10, respectively. Lewis grabbed a team-high seven rebounds for Central.

GAME INFORMATION | BOX SCORE

Score:  CCSU 64,  SACRED HEART 74
Records: CCSU (0-3), SHU (1-2)
Location: Detrick  Gymnasium | New Britain, CT

KEY MOMENTS

• Sacred Heart scored the first nine points of the game in the opening 1:59 of the quarter. CCSU would get on the scoreboard with a layup by Kiyah Lewis at the 7:41 mark, but the Pioneers would lead by as much as 18-5 in the opening quarter.
• The Blue Devils would regroup and trim the deficit to single digits by the end of the quarter. A three-pointer by Lucia Noin was followed by a Lewis jumper to close the quarter and get Central with 24-18 after the opening period.
• Jessica Farrell scored Central's first two baskets of the second period and a Ciera Pearson triple made it 27-26 with 6:14 left in the half. Noin would hit her second trifecta of the period to tie the game at 31-31 with 1:28 left before halftime, but the Pioneers would hit 1-of-2 free throws with 28 seconds left in the period to take a 33-32 lead at the break.
• A jumper by Noin to open the second half would give Central its first lead of the game at 34-33. The Pioneers would score seven straight points and hold the Blue Devils scoreless for over three minutes to go ahead 40-34 before Mathilda Toure came off the bench to hit back-to-back field goals ending the scoring drought.
• SHU would close  the quarter with four points in the final 1:17 to push the lead back to six points. A layup by Emma Kirby just before the horn made it 48-42 entering the final quarter.
• The Blue Devils would go over six minutes without a field goal, while the Pioneers stretched the lead to 55-46  with 6:22 remaining.
• Noin would hit a jumper with 5:59 to play to end the Central field goal drought, but Sierra Johnson hit a three-pointer for SHU on the next possession to push the lead to double-digits. CCSU would get no closer than seven points  the rest of the way.

NUMBER TO KNOW

10 – The teams were tied with 22 points in the paint apiece at halftime, but SHU would outscore CCSU, 14-4 in the second half.

NOTES

• Lewis led all scorers with a career-high. She made 4-of-6 shots to open the game and matched her personal-best with 10 points after the first quarter. She added three steals and two assists.
• Farrell contributed a season-high in scoring, while adding four rebounds and three assists.
• Toure finished with eight points, all of which came after halftime.
• Sacred Heart leads the all-time series, 43-20, and has won the last four meetings.

UP NEXT

• The Blue Devils will be home against UMass Lowell on Saturday afternoon

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