UMBC

Baltimore, MD - - -The Central Connecticut State Blue Devils held the UMBC Retrievers to just thirty-two percent shooting, en-route to a 57-48 Northeast Conference victory, in the regular-season finale on Monday evening at the Retriever Activities Center. The Blue Devils completed their season at 8-20 (7-11 NEC) and the Retrievers dropped to 12-15 (9-9 NEC).

Leading 23-19 at halftime, the Blue Devils outscored UMBC, 9-2, over the first 4:16 of the second half to grab a 32-21 advantage. Central increased their lead to 14 points at 39-25 with 10:14 remaining on a jumper by junior guard Kristen Gonsalves. The Retrievers would cut the deficit to just six points on a three-point goal by senior guard Shalayna Johnson with 4:46 remaining, part of a 12-4 run, which featured seven points by Johnson. Senior guard Jessie Brown connected on three free-throws with 1:07 remaining to bring UMBC within four points at 48-44, but Blue Devils guard Kerrin Fesik answered with a lay-up and Gonsalves added a pair of free-throws to put the visitors back on top 52-44 with just forty-five seconds left.

UMBC took their last lead of the game at 15-14 with 5:39 remaining in the opening half on a three-point goal by Johnson. However, the Blue Devils outscored UMBC by a 9-4 margin to grab the four-point halftime edge.

Gonsalves and sophomore forward Regina Cunningham led the Blue Devils with 10 points apiece. Cunninham added a game-high 11 rebounds. Johnson led UMBC with 18 points and became the 14^th Retriever to score 1,000 career points. Senior forward Millette Green added 11 points and a team-high 8 rebounds.

Central converted just 15-for-42 (36 percent) of their field goal attempts, but went 24-for-33 (73 percent) from the foul-line. UMBC was 18-for-56 and just 7-for-12 (58 percent ) from the line.

Despite the defeat, UMBC will be the #7 seed in the upcoming NEC Tournament and will play #2 Quinnipiac on Saturday at 5:30 pm.