NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College Women's Basketball team took on the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils in a conference matchup from Hammel Court on Saturday afternoon. The game was back and forth almost the entire way until the fourth quarter where CCSU ran away with this one eventually defeating Merrimack 69-53.
Although the final score didn't end up in the Warriors favor, there was still plenty to celebrate. Graduate student,
Mayson Kimball, finished with a team-high 26 points and with that surpassed the 1,000-career point milestone. The Webster, N.H. native is the 23
rd Merrimack College women's basketball player to pass the mark and will continue to cement her legacy as an all-time great Warrior the rest of this season.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 53, Central Connecticut State University 69
Records: Merrimack (4-8, 2-2 NEC) | Central Connecticut State University (3-8, 1-1 NEC)
Location: North Andover, Mass.
Rapid Recap
- The first quarter started out a bit choppy as both teams couldn't seem to find a rhythm offensively. After back-to-back three's from CCSU, the Warriors knew they needed to get to work and that's exactly what they did. Junior, Jayme DeCesare, drove to the lane, pulling two defenders to her. She then flung a pass out to classmate, Diamond Christian, who buried the three to get Merrimack on the board. Then after a Blue Devil turnover, Christian found the ball again and found an open, Carla Balague, who nailed the shot from beyond the arch to get the Warriors within one. After two Kimball free throws and a CCSU miss, Merrimack had the ball with an opportunity to snatch up their first lead of the game. They did exactly that when freshman, Ava Owens, went at the hoop hard and got two tough points over a CCSU defender. After some more back and forth play, Kimball took over scoring two unanswered buckets, one of which saw Christian deliver a perfect pass for the score.
- The second quarter started out with a fantastic overall team sequence for the Warriors. On the defensive side, DeCesare swiped the ball from a Blue Devil and the Warriors looked for immediate transition. After some sweet passing, Owens jumped up – snagged a rebound – and then laid it off the glass and in for two. After a quick response from the Blue Devils, the Warriors went on an 11-2 run to extend their lead to 28-24. During that sequence the ball found its way to Kimball who sat at 12 points on the day and needing only two more to reach 1,000 points in her career. She got a pass from DeCesare, and then pulled up and buried the open three to make history. CCSU then came right back at Merrimack five straight points to get them back in this one, but then Balague found her stride. The Barcelona, Spain native created two open opportunities for herself scoring back-to-back buckets for the Warriors to get the lead right back. After both teams cashing in offensively, Kimball nailed another tough three right before the half, to give her 18 first half points.
- After a really solid first half, including some history, the second half did not fall the Warriors way. The Blue Devils got out to an 8-0 run to start the frame, but that's where it ended as Kimball hit her defender with a stop and go move which freed her up for a mid-range jumper, which she sunk for two points. Then after committing a good foul to only allow 1 point from CCSU on the defensive side, Merrimack focused on the offense now. Graduate student, Paige McCormick, received a pass at the top of the key where she faked a shot and drove hard to the hoop. She was then fouled and made two big free throws to keep Merrimack in it.
- In the fourth, the Blue Devils inevitably ran away with this one outscoring the Warriors 14-8 to achieve the victory.
Up Next
The Warriors head back on the road next Saturday as they will go to battle against St. Francis (PA) from Loretto.
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