EMMITSBURG, Md. – Central Connecticut State defeated Mount St. Mary's 73-63 in Northeast Conference (NEC) women's basketball action on Monday.

Sydney Henderson (Mechanicsville, Va./Atlee) paced the Mount (7-10, 3-3 NEC) with 25 points. Ashley Christie (Miamisburg, Ohio/Archbishop Alter) added nine points while Selina Mann (Gainesville, Va./Battlefield) tallied eight rebounds, eight steals and seven assists in the loss.

Jessica Babe fueled the Blue Devils (8-9, 2-4 NEC) with 15 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Jaclyn Babe (13 points), Kaley Watras (12 points), Lauren Arbogast (12 points) and Kirsten Daamen (10 points) also registered double figures in the winning effort.

Central Connecticut State started strong from the start and held off several Mount St. Mary's offensive charges to hand the Mount its first conference loss at Knott Arena.

The Mountaineers started the game by making 2 of its first 17 points and the Blue Devils used that to its advantage to jump out to a 21-7 lead in the first 10 minutes.

Daamen gave Central Connecticut State the lead with a layup at 18:53 to give the Blue Devils the lead it would not relinquish. Sandra Andresson (Tallinn, Estonia/Audentes School) then hit the backend of two free throws at 18:27 before Daamen, Jaclyn Babe and Jessica Babe each hit baskets for an 8-1 advantage.

Henderson momentarily halted the run with a jumper at 13:42, but Jaclyn Babe nailed a 3-pointer at 13:20 and Arbogast drilled a jumper at 12:52 for a 13-3 edge. Christie answered with two free throws at 12:36, but Central Connecticut State would score eight of the next 10 points to take a 21-7 lead thanks to four points from Watras.

Central Connecticut State was able to grab a 20-point advantage on three occasions in the first half, but with the Blue Devils holding a 40-20 lead Mount St. Mary's closed the half with a 10-2 run in the final two minutes.

Jen Carney (Drexel Hills, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) started the surge with a 3-pointer at 1:42 before Rachel Mathews (Midlothian, Va./Midlothian) converted a traditional 3-point play with 60 seconds remaining. Henderson then scored the next four points on a layup and two free throws to trim the deficit in half with 39 seconds left in the stanza. The Mount had a chance to cut it to single digits going into the locker room, but Watras answered with a jumper to end the period to give Central Connecticut State a 42-30 lead at the break.

The Blue Devils restored a 15-point advantage to start the second half before the Mountaineers scored the next seven points to make it an eight-point game.

Trailing 46-31, Christie started the run with back-to-back layups before Henderson nailed a trey with 14:30 on the clock to cut the margin to 46-38. Daamen responded with a jumper at 13:43 to restore a double-digit advantage.

With Central Connecticut State holding a 66-52 lead, Mount St. Mary's made one last spurt to trim the margin to seven points thanks to a 7-0 run sparked by a pair of 3-balls by Henderson, but the Mount could get no closer the rest of the way.

Mathews finished the game with eight points while Carney matched her career-best with six points for the third time this season. Andresson ended with six points and seven rebounds. Mann has 26 steals in her last four games.

Mount St. Mary's will hit the road for its next four games to conclude the month of January. The Mount returns to action at LIU Brooklyn on Saturday. Game time is 2 p.m.