Danbury, Conn.-The Rhode Island College women's basketball team dropped an 84-62 decision against Western Connecticut in a Little East Conference contest played at Feldman Arena on Wednesday night.

Senior guard  Alex Moore (West Newbury, MA) paced RIC (5-19, 2-11 LEC) with 17 points, four rebounds and two assists. Junior guard Jessa Rubera (Newton, MA) added 15 point, while sophomore forward Molly Phillips (Cranston, RI) notched 14 points with six boards.

Senior Samantha Smith (Wallingford, CT) scored a game-high 24 points to lead the way for Western Connecticut (14-10, 6-7 LEC). Senior Emily Dobson (Westerly, RI) and Kaitlyn LaBonte (South Windsor, CT) each tallied 14 points in the win for the hosts.

Western Connecticut started strong and built a 12-point lead, 26-14, following a three-pointer by LaBonte with 7:32 remaining in the second quarter.

RIC scored the game's next six points to close the gap to six, 26-20, when Rubera connected on the back end of two free throws with 4:30 left in the first half. That would be as close as the Anchorwomen would get, however, as Western Connecticut regained the double-digit lead when a jumper by when Emma Belcourt (Cromwell, CT) made the score 31-20 with 3:41 remaining before halftime. The Colonials held a 41-24 advantage heading into the locker room at the break.

Western Connecticut led by as many as 26 points midway through the third quarter before taking a 64-39 lead after three quarters of play. The Colonials pushed their lead to 32 points early in the fourth before cruising to the 84-62 victory.

RIC shot 38.0 percent (19-of-50) from the field, 33.3 percent (3-of-9) from behind the three-point stripe and 84.0 percent (21-of-25) from the free throw line. Western Connecticut shot 47.4 percent (27-of-57) from the field, 44.4 percent (12-of-27) from three-point line and 85.7 percent (18-of-21) from the free throw line.

 In upcoming action, Rhode Island College will continue Little East Conference action at Keene State in the regular season finale on Saturday, Feb. 18 (1 p.m.).