CASTLETON, Vt. -- The Eastern Connecticut State University women's basketball team outscored Castleton University by 12 points in the third quarter to break open a tight game and punctuated its tenth Little East Conference victory of the season by shutting out the hosts in the final quarter on the way to its seventh straight victory, 62-34, Saturday afternoon at Glenbrook Gymnasium.
Senior guard Danielle O'Brien (Rockland, MA) had a season-high 15 points and career-high seven steals and tied her career-best with five three-point field goals as Eastern (13-8, 10-2 LEC) picked up a half-game on idle LEC leader Rhode Island College (17-4, 12-0 LEC) and trails the Anchorwomen by two games with four conference games remaining.
In winning for the fifth straight time in the all-time series against Castleton (10-8, 3-6 LEC) and completing the season sweep, Eastern posted its 17th season of double-digit LEC regular-season wins – winning at least ten for the sixth time in the last seven years -- under 28th-year head coach Denise Bierly.
The Warriors led by only six at halftime but pulled away when the Spartans missed 27 of 29 shots in the second half, including all 15 attempts in the fourth quarter (even though they turned the ball over only once over those final ten minutes) when Eastern piled ten more points upon its 18-point lead after three quarters.
Ranked second in the LEC in defense, rebounding margin and three-point field goal defense and third in three-point field goal defense, Eastern has allowed an average of only 40.4 points per game during its seven-game winning streak, with opponents shooting under 30 percent from the floor and under 20 percent from three-point range. The Warriors have also averaged 12 more rebounds per game in that stretch. The top free-throw shooting team in the LEC, Eastern matched its season percentage of 73.0 by canning 11 of 15.
Since opening the season 1-of-20 from three-point range, O'Brien has contributed at least one three-pointer in 16 of the last 17 games and is 15-of-31 (48.4 percent) from distance over the last five games.
Saturday, senior forwards Anna Barry (Andover) and Aiyana Ward (Waterbury) paced Eastern to a +22 rebounding advantage. Barry had 15 to go along with six points and two blocks and Ward ten while adding five points and four assists. Junior forward Mariah Dunn (Meriden) had eight rebounds off the bench. Senior guards Jenna Serrantino (Cromwell) and Julie Keckler (Trumbull) followed O'Brien in double figures with 13 and 11 points, respectively.
Eastern visits Rhode Island College Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in a battle of the top-ranked teams in the conference. The Anchorwomen, who eased to a 71-45 win over Eastern exactly one month ago, have won 24 consecutive LEC regular-season games since losing, 68-63, at Castleton Feb. 1, 2020.