WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – The Eastern Connecticut State University women's basketball team opened the second quarter on a 14-5 run to move out to a 12-point halftime lead and shot 55 percent from the floor in the second half to post a 79-59 Little East Conference victory over the University of Southern Maine Saturday afternoon at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.
With its 14th win in the last 15 games, conference-leading Eastern (18-3, 11-1 LEC) guaranteed itself of making the six-team LEC tournament which gets underway Feb. 25 and moves to within one victory of securing a first-round tournament bye. With four regular-season games remaining, Eastern holds a 1 ½ game lead over Rhode Island College, which downed homestanding UMass Boston, 67-52, Saturday.
The sweep of Southern Maine (9-13, 4-9 LEC) was the first for Eastern in five years against the Huskies, who fall 2 ½ games behind Keene State College for the sixth and final LEC tournament spot. USM has lost four straight conference games.
Leading by two after one quarter, Eastern outscored Southern Maine (9-13, 4-9 LEC) 21-11 in the second quarter by going 8-of-12 from the floor -- including 4-of-5 from distance – and outrebounding the Huskies, 11-5.
In the second quarter, senior guard Lizzy Cretella (Cheshire), sophomore guard Julie Keckler (Trumbull) and sophomore forward Anna Barry (Andover) all had six points. Two three-pointers by Cretella accounted for the Warriors' first six points of the quarter. Barry and Keckler also grabbed three rebounds and handed out two assists in the quarter, with Barry blocking a shot in the quarter.
Eastern's starters accounted for 60 points on 24-of-45 (53.3 percent) shooting and 29 rebounds and 18 assists.
Eastern reached 70 points for the 13th time this year – fourth straight. The LEC's highest scoring team averages 69.6 points per game with an average winning margin of 12.7.
Barry recorded her ninth double-double – fourth in the last five games – with 15 points and ten rebounds and also handed out six assists and blocked five shots to give her a conference-leading 59 on the year and 99 (sixth all-time) in 49 career games.
Senior forward Mya Villard (Cromwell) had 15 points and six rebounds for Eastern, teaming with Barry to sink 13 of 20 field goals. Cretella had her sixth straight double-figure game with 14 point to go along with five rebounds and three assists, with Keckler adding 13 points, four assists, and a career-tying eight rebounds. Senior guard Sabrina LeMere (North Branford) came off the bench for nine points and five rebounds in 14 minutes.
Senior guard Jackie Luckhardt, who had 19 points in USM's 75-67 home loss to Eastern three weeks ago, had 13 points as her team's only double-digit scorer. She also had six steals and five assists.
Sophomore guard Michelle Rowe, who torched Eastern earlier this year with 21 points and nine rebounds in 37 minutes, was held scoreless from the floor Saturday, finishing with one point and three rebounds in 18 minutes.
The LEC's second-ranked team in rebounding margin, Eastern more than doubled USM's total (46-21) and held a +13 advantage in second-chance points.
Eastern visits Rhode Island College Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. Since downing Eastern 58-46 to take over first place in the conference a month ago, the Anchorwomen are 3-3 in conference games.