WILLIMANTIC, Conn. -- Senior forward Mariah Dunn (Meriden) was 8-of-11 from the floor in the game and the Eastern Connecticut State University women's basketball used 57 percent shooting over the first ten minutes to take a 12-point lead after one quarter and went on to its seventh win in the last eight, 63-47, over Keene State College in Little East Conference action Tuesday evening at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.
With the win, Eastern (11-4, 5-1 LEC) moves a half-game behind conference leader Rhode Island College, which was idle. Keene (3-9, 1-5 LEC), which got only 23 points from its starters, dropped its fourth straight and fell to 0-7 away from Spaulding Gymnasium this year.
The third-best defensive team in the LEC (allowing 52.5 points per game), Eastern limited the Owls to single digits in all but the second quarter, when Keene shot 70 percent from the floor and scored 22 points to pull to within eight points, 39-31, at the half.
Senior guard Julie Keckler (Trumbull) and Dunn combined for 26 first-half points but the Warriors could not shake free until the third quarter, when Keene shot only 21 percent from the floor while Keckler and Dunn combined for ten points to give Eastern a 16-point cushion heading into the final turn.
Dunn, the LEC leader with a 53.2 field goal percentage, posted her ninth double-digit scoring game in the last ten. Keckler and senior guard Jenna Serrantino (Cromwell) combined four seven of Eastern's season-high nine three-point field goals. Keckler led both teams with 19 points, Dunn scoring 17 and Serrantino 11. Senior All-America forward Anna Barry (Andover) had 12 rebounds and nine points, failing to score in double figures for the first time this year and missing her out on her seventh straight double-double by one point. Barry leads the conference with a 12.7 rebounding average. Senior guard Danielle O'Brien (Rockland, MA) and Keckler each had six assists, with Keckler recording the 300th of her career in the process. Sophomore forward Taylor Salato (East Haven) had eight points in 16 minutes off the bench.
Keene tossed in six of its seven three-points in the first half but fell off over the final 20 minutes by missing nine of ten attempts from distance. Aryanna Murray and Elizabeth Gonyea each had eight points for Keene, with Kenzie Durnford gabbing seven rebounds and blocking two shots.
Eastern visits the University of Southern Maine in a conference game Thursday at 5 p.m.