BOSTON, Mass. – Senior forward Anna Barry (Andover) is beginning to emerge as a dominant presence in the paint for Eastern Connecticut State University women's basketball as the six-foot forward earned her third consecutive double-double and 17th of her career at Clark Athletic Center when the Warriors (8-8, 5-2 LEC) took down UMass Boston (3-8, LEC 2-3) Saturday afternoon, 50-38.
The win brings 28th-year Eastern head coach Denise Bierly to within one victory of 500.
Barry (8-of-17 FG in 39 minutes) finished the game with 18 points and 10 rebounds, leading the team in the point and rebounding categories for the third straight game. It is the third time in Barry's career in which she has recorded a double-double in three straight games and moves her within two on tying her consecutive games with a double-double at five which she did during the 2019-2020 season from January 22nd, 2020, until February 15th, 2020.
In the first meeting between the two teams this season, it was UMass Boston who came out firing on all cylinders in Geissler Gymnasium before Eastern responded with a big second and third quarter to come away with a double-digit victory. Saturday would start similarly with the Beacons jumping out to an early 4-0 lead after a 0-for-8 start from the field for the Warriors to go along with four turnovers in the opening five minutes. Senior guard Jenna Serrantino (Cromwell) got Eastern on the scoreboard with a pair of free throws before Barry, coming off back-to-back dominant games, sunk a layup to knot things up at four a piece.
The Warriors responded to another 4-0 run by the Beacons with a 5-0 run of their own as senior guard Julie Keckler (Trumbull) rattled home a three to give them their first lead of the game with 2:38 remaining in the opening quarter, 9-8. A layup by sophomore guard Sunny Green and buzzer beating three to end the first by sophomore guard Rayla Gonzalez helped UMass Boston respond with a quarter-ending 5-0 to leap in front, 13-9, after one quarter.
Eastern finished the first quarter shooting just 3-for-17 from the field, including 1-for-6 from three but forced the Beacons to commit nine turnovers and were able to recover six offensive boards, including three from Serrantino.
Trailing 17-12 with 8:05 left in the second, the Warrior offense would wake up and use a 13-2 run over the next seven minutes to take a six-point lead with just over a minute to go. It started with a three from Serrantino and a shot clock beating layup from senior guard Danielle O'Brien (Rockland, MA) to pull Eastern even once again. After a layup from Green with 5:12 left in the half gave UMass Boston the lead again, 19-17, the Beacons would be held scoreless for the next four minutes which the Warriors capitalized on.
Five points from Barry along with a pair of jumpers from O'Brien and Keckler helped Eastern head into the halftime break with a 26-21 edge. After shooting 17.6 percent in the first quarter, the Warriors would go 7-for-17 (41.2 percent) while UMass Boston struggled to the tune of 4-for-14 shooting (28.6 percent), including 0-for-6 from long range.
The story of the first half was the battle of the boards as Eastern held a 13-2 edge in offensive rebounds en route to a 23-13 advantage in total rebounds as Barry led the way with eight boards, five on the offensive end, two blocks, and nine points which shooting 4-for-8 from the field. All six Warrior players who played ample first half minutes reeled in at least two rebounds and five of them would contribute at least one offensive board as well.
Eastern's defense also finished with a big first half, holding the top two scorers for the Beacons in first-year guard Paige Ollivierre and senior guard Meg Dixon to zero points on 0-for-8 shooting from the field, including 0-for-6 from three-point land.
Despite first-year guard Cathryn Sullivan – who leads UMass Boston with 28 assists this season and ranks third on the team in rebounds – getting into foul trouble, earning two in the opening minutes of the first and two quick ones in the third, the Beacons would work their way back into the contest.
Beginning the third on a 6-0 run, Meg Dixon's first points of the game with 5:40 left in the third quarter helped give UMass Boston their first lead since 5:12 remained in the first half, 27-26. Converting on her fourth offensive rebound of the game and the 17th for the Warriors as a team, Serrantino put Eastern back ahead quickly, sparking a 12-2 run for Eastern to end the third quarter.
Leading the run for the Warriors was Serrantino and O'Brien who combined for seven points while a Keckler three and Barry layup to push her into double-digits for the game saw Eastern go in front, 38-29, with one quarter to go.
The Beacons were unable to threaten in the fourth, getting within eight, 40-32, after a free throw by sophomore forward Vienna Monestime with 7:18 remaining before Eastern pulled away by as many as 15 points and earned themselves a 12-point road victory, 50-38. Barry and Keckler scored all 12 fourth quarter points for the Warriors as both teams only hit four shots each from the field and combined for 21 total points in the quarter.
Vienna Monestime led the way for UMass Boston with 11 points on 5-for-9 shooting in 25 minutes played. The top two scorers for the Beacons, Paige Ollivierre and Meg Dixon were stymied by Eastern's defense, combining for four points on 2-of-16 shooting and going 0-for-10 from beyond the arc. The zero first half points for Dixon was the first time in which the senior was held scoreless in a half.
UMass Boston put up its second lowest scoring output of the season at 38 points, narrowly avoiding its previous season-low of 37 points against Rhode Island College on December 18th.
Keckler broke a six-game stretch of being held under 10 points with a 15-point performance while shooting 5-for-13 from the field in 36 minutes.
Serrantino fell just shy of a double-double in 39 minutes played, scoring nine points, 10 rebounds, and converting on 4-of-6 free throw attempts.
Bierly will have a chance to earn her 500th win when the Warriors head north to Spaulding Gymnasium in Keene, NH to take on Little East Conference rival Keene State College (1-5 LEC) on Monday in a rescheduled game from January 11.
The two teams have not played each other since the 2019-2020 season in which Eastern took both matchups by double-digit point margins. The Warriors have won their last six matchups against the Owls with the last loss coming during the 2016-17 season in the Little East Conference Tournament Championship in Geissler Gymnasium, 71-58.