WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – Senior All-America Anna Barry (Andover) had her sixth double-double of the season and added a season-high six blocked shots to move to within one of her 200th career block as the Eastern Connecticut State University women's basketball team remained undefeated in the Little East Conference with a 71-47 victory over Plymouth State University Saturday afternoon at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.
The six-foot Barry – last year's LEC Offensive and Defensive Player-of-the-Year -- had seven points, 11 rebounds and three blocks in the first half and sophomore Taylor Salato (East Haven) scored 16 of her career-high 22 points over the first 20 minutes as Eastern (7-3, 3-0 LEC) built a ten-point halftime lead and eased to its 21st consecutive win over Plymouth (4-5, 0-3 LEC).
Winners of seven of eight since an 0-2 start, Eastern outscored Plymouth 21-5 over the first eight minutes of the game, when the Panthers missed eight of their first ten shots with four turnovers. Salato closed out that 21-5 run by scoring the final six points, with Barry grabbing seven rebounds, blocking a shot and scoring four points.
Barry grabbed 16 rebounds for the third straight games – two shy of her career-high -- to go along with 11 points. The program's all-time leader in blocked shots, Barry moved to within one of 200 in her career when finished two shy of her career-high of eight. Salato posted career-highs with 22 points and 13 rebounds and also blocked two shots in 20 minutes, with senior forward Mariah Dunn (Meriden) and senior guard Julie Keckler (Trumbull) each adding 11 points and senior guard Jenna Serrantino (Cromwell) helping Eastern to a +26 advantage on the boards with eight rebounds.
Off the bench in the first half, Salato was 5-of-7 from the floor and 6-of-6 from the foul line with six rebounds in 12 minutes.
Coming off a two-win season last year, Plymouth dropped its third straight (LEC) game, allowing more than 70 points for the third time this year. Freshman guard Sophie George led PSU with 14 points, with senior forward Jalen Cook added 12. Junior forward Sabrina Vlahovic and senior guard Autumn Nelson each had six rebounds.
Eastern faces Endicott College Dec. 30 in the first round of the Judy Pearson '85 Memorial Tournament, hosted by Babson College, and meets Middlebury College the following afternoon.