Clutch Free Throws Carry Eastern Connecticut

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WILLIMANTIC, Conn. --  Six-foot forwards Anna Barry (Andover) and Taylor Salato (East Haven) combined to sink all six of their free throw attempts over the final 24.5 seconds as the Eastern Connecticut State University women's basketball team won its sixth straight game, 74-66, over the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in a Little East Conference game Wednesday night at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.

In posting its third straight regular-season sweep of UMass (10-8, 6-3 LEC), Eastern (15-4, 9-1 LEC) kept pace in the Little East and remains a game behind unbeaten LEC leader Rhode Island College, which downed host University of Southern Maine, 75-35, Wednesday. UMass falls three games back of Eastern in third place and maintains a one-game lead over Western Connecticut, which lost at the University of Massachusetts Boston, 50-45, Wednesday.

Barry scored 16 of her game-high 21 points in the second half when the Warriors broke from a one-point halftime lead. Free-throw shooting kept the Corsairs within striking distance throughout the evening, UMass converting all ten of its tries in the first half and 22 of 24 in the game.

Leading by a point in the first minute of the fourth quarter, Eastern ran off six straight points to move out to a seven-point, 62-55 lead with just under seven minutes left. Barry scored four of them with an inside basket and two free throws and sophomore guard Kya Mayo (Middletown) added a jumper off a feed from Barry.

Trailing by seven, the Corsairs nailed seven of eight free throws to stay within striking distance, with Teja Andrews' two freebies  cutting the Eastern lead to two, 68-66 with 33 seconds left. With two Eastern starters on the bench with five personal fouls each, Barry then swished two free throws with 24.5 seconds left. Salato then drained four free throws over the final 20.3 seconds after grabbing rebounds of UMass misses to clinch the win.

Barry finished with a game-high 21 points, and also had ten rebounds and four blocked shots to pace four double-digit scorers and help Eastern attain its highest point total of the year. Salato came off the bench for 15 points and eight rebounds in 20 minutes, senior forward Mariah Dunn (Meriden) adding 13 points and Mayo a career-high 12 points (eight in the first half) on 6-of-9 shooting. Senior guard Julie Keckler (Trumbull) had ten assists and six rebounds before fouling out with 1:55 left and Eastern leading by six.

Andrews (5-of-6 FT) led UMass with 17 points, 5-foot-4 inch Jordan Moretti (7-of-8 FT) adding 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds and Jaelyn Lavigne 11 points and five rebounds.

The top two-ranked free-throw shooting teams in the conference combined on 38-of-44 marksmanship from the stripe.

Eastern visits Plymouth State University in a conference game Saturday at 1 p.m.