Noin Scores 24; Women's Basketball Held Off by Stonehill

The Central Connecticut women's basketball team mounted a late charge, but was held off by Stonehill on Saturday falling 74-65 in NEC action at Detrick Gymnasium. The Blue Devils would trim a double-figure deficit to just four points in the closing minute before the Skyhawks held on.

Lucia Noin paced a trio of Blue Devils in double-digits with 24 points, while grabbing eight rebounds. Kiyah Lewis added 18 points and Kayla Henry finished with 10 points.

GAME INFORMATION | BOX SCORE

Score:  CCSU 65, STONEHILL 74
Records: CCSU (0-19, 0-8 NEC), Stonehill (7-12, 3-5 NEC)
Location: Detrick Gymnasium | New Britain, CT 

KEY MOMENTS 

• The Blue Devils would open the game with back-to-back layups by Kayla Henry and Jessica Farrell. Stonehill responded with seven straight points to take the lead before a Kiyah Lewis layup and Lucia Noin foul shot would momentarily tie the game with 6:15 to go in the period.
• Stonehill would break the deadlock with a three-pointer on the next possession and would hold the lead throughout the remainder of the quarter. The lead would not grow to more than a possession and the Skyhawks led 16-15 after the opening period.
• Central opened the second period by taking the lead on a layup by Henry before a three-pointer by Nicora Patrick extended the margin to 20-16. Stonehill would run off seven unanswered points to retake a 26-23 lead at the 6:05 mark. Noin would end a nearly three-minute  scoring drought for CCSU to make it a one-point game before the Skyhawks scored 11 straight and went ahead 37-25. A Noin jump shot would end the four-minute run by Stonehill on the next possession, but the Blue Devils would trail 39-27 at the intermission.
• The Blue Devils would cut the deficit to single digits midway through the period. CCSU held Stonehill scoreless for over four minutes and would score eight straight points. Lewish hit a jump shot with 4:57 to go in the period to open the run before a pair of Kiyah Lewis foul shots made it 47-41 with 1:24 remaining. Stonehill would end a 7:52 stretch without a field goal when Julia Webster hit a layup with 0:05 left in the quarter to make it 51-43.
• Three-pointers by Noin and Christa Ramos early in the fourth quarter would get CCSU within 56-52 with 8:02 remaining. Stonehill would respond by outscoring Central, 9-2, over a span of 2:05  and would push the lead back to 65-54 with 4:47 remaining.
• A quick 6-0 run by the Blue Devils would cut the deficit in half with 1:12 to play. Lewis hit two foul shots before Noin made a layup followed by a Lewis layup to make it 67-62. After a Skyhawks layup, Noin hit a three-pointer to make it 69-65 with 47 seconds remaining, but Stonehill would go 5-for-6 at the foul line to close the game.

NUMBER TO KNOW 

9 – Central outscored Stonehill, 9-0, in fastbreak points.

NOTES 

• Noin scored 20+ points for the third time in NEC play this season. She added five assists and five steals.
• Lewis went 8-for-8 at the foul line and added six rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot.
• As a team, CCSU had 12 assists against just seven turnovers. The Blue Devils forced 14 turnovers, collecting 10 steals.
• The all-time is 4-4, but CCSU dropped both matchups this season.
• Central went 14-for-15 at the foul line as a team.

UP NEXT 

• The Blue Devils play at Wagner on Thursday night in a 5:00 p.m. tipoff. 

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