Hackettstown, N.J. — The Centenary University women's basketball team secured the No. 5 seed in the upcoming Atlantic East Conference Tournament despite falling to Neumann, 66-51, on Senior Day at the John M. Reeves Student Recreation Center. Centenary moves to 13-12 overall and 6-8 in conference play, locking in its postseason position as the Cyclones now turn their focus toward the Atlantic East Tournament.
Neumann built early momentum, outscoring Centenary 12-9 in the opening quarter and extending the advantage to 31-20 at halftime. The Cyclones were unable to fully recover, as the visitors shot an efficient 49.1 percent from the field and maintained control through the third quarter.
Centenary was paced by Sofia Mendez, who scored eight points and grabbed three rebounds in the starting lineup. Alexa Osafo-Mensah added eight points and five boards, while Kayla Sampong contributed six points and three assists. Vatijah Davis led the Cyclones off the bench with nine points and six rebounds, and Ashanti Dewalt chipped in six points and eight rebounds.
As a team, the Cyclones shot 17-for-54 from the field and 5-for-19 from three-point range, while pulling down 37 total rebounds. Centenary matched Neumann with 40 points in the paint but struggled to generate consistent offense in the middle quarters.
With the regular season complete, Centenary will enter the Atlantic East Conference Tournament as the fifth seed and head to Neumann and look to bounce back in the First Round.
