SPRINGFIELD, Mass. –   If the Eastern Connecticut State University women's basketball team was able to bottle a three-minute stretch in the opening quarter against Union College on the second day of the Naismith Class Saturday afternoon, the Warriors might well have begun the 2022 portion of the 2021-22 season with a resounding win.

They could not, and because of that, the Warriors have begun 2022 in similar fashion to how they ended 2021 a little over 24 hours earlier – with a resounding loss.

Without one starter and the first three players off the bench in the tournament, Eastern (6-6) followed up Friday afternoon's 38-point loss against nationally-ranked host Springfield College with a 67-50 loss to first-time opponent Union College (3-5) at Blake Arena.

With one tournament team forced to withdraw from the tournament in the days leading up to the classic, the original two-day, four-game setup was changed to a three-day event, with each of the three teams playing once. On Sunday at 1 p.m., Springfield and Union – both having beaten Eastern in their only tournament games -- meet for the de facto title at Blake Arena.

After losing five of its first six, Union has found its mojo recently, albeit against opponents playing without several of their top players. On Thursday, the Dutchwomen pounded a formidable Middlebury College team by 32 points at home. And as it did against the Panthers, Union kept Eastern from scoring double figures in the middle two quarters in rolling up a 19-point lead heading into an anti-climactic final ten minutes.

Saturday, Eastern spotted Union a quick 14-2 lead, but just as quickly, played its best basketball for three minutes, scoring 12 points in a row to pull even, before later taking two-point leads twice in the opening minutes of the second quarter. During its 12-point spurt, Eastern was 4-of-5 from the floor without a turnover, and sank all four of its free throws while Union was missing all four of its field goal attempts and turning the ball over in five possessions in its only unproductive stretch of the game.

During those three minutes, junior forward Mariah Dunn (Meriden) scored on a shot from the corner and scored underneath on a feed from senior guard Jenna Serrantino (Cromwell). Serrantino  grabbed two offensive rebounds to keep play alive, finding Dunn alone for the tying (14-14) basket with 1:35 left in the quarter. Serrantino had two assists and a defensive rebound in those three minutes while senior forward Aiyana Ward (Waterbury) scored from inside on a pass from Dunn and grabbed two defensive rebounds. Senior guard Julie Keckler (Trumbull) got ignited the rally going from 12 points down when she hit two free throws with 4:12 left in the quarter.

As it did at the outset of the game, Eastern started slowly in the second quarter, and this time it was costly as the Dutchwomen used a 22-9 scoring advantage in the quarter to ease into the half with a 36-23 advantage. Union  made its decisive run over the final six minutes of the quarter, breaking a 20-20 tie and outscoring the Warriors 16-3 the rest of the way. Dunn's layup and one free throw by Ward was all the offense Eastern could muster over those final six minutes.

Trailing by 23 with 6:20 remaining in the game, Eastern cleared its (shortened) bench, with four newcomers sharing the court with junior guard Jaclyn Santella (Hebron). Cara McGettigan (Southbury), Elayna Comella (Warwick, RI), Emma Simmons (Carver, MA) and Emily Jeamel (Manchester) each played the final 6+ minutes and combined for 12 points, four rebounds, two assists, two blocked shots and just one turnover. McGettigan converted both of her shots from the floor, Simmons had a basket, two rebounds, an assist and steal and Comella a bucket – including a three-pointer – free throw and a blocked shots. Jeamel connected on her only shot, grabbed two rebounds and also rejected a shot.

No Eastern player managed double figures in the game. Serrantino tied her career high with nine rebounds, Ward adding nine points, six rebounds and two steals and Dunn six points, three assists, two rebounds and steal.

Beginning Wednesday against Rhode Island College at 4 p.m., the Warriors play their final 13 games in the Little East Conference. Eastern (3-0) and RIC (4-0) are the pre-season LEC favorites and are both undefeated in early LEC returns. In the 2020 LEC tournament final, Eastern avenged two double-figure losses to RIC with a 49-44 victory at Geissler Gymnasium.

Spectators will not be allowed at home games for an indefinite period beginning Wednesday but all remaining home games can be accessed on ETV Sports at https://www.littleeast.tv/easternct/