WESTFIELD, Mass. – Junior forward Taylor Salato (East Haven) had 30 points and 11 rebounds and the Eastern Connecticut State University women's basketball team erased a 14-point deficit after one quarter in a 73-61 victory over Regis College Saturday afternoon in the consolation game of the Westfield Gas & Electric Tip-Off Tournament, hosted by Westfield State University at the Woodward Center.
Eastern (2-1) allowed the first seven points of the game, trailed by 14 after one quarter and by ten at halftime before dominating the second half – the third quarter in particular -- against Regis (0-5) by outscoring the Pride 47-25 after the break.
The Warriors opened the second half with a 17-4 run to take a five-point, 45-40 lead on an inside bucket by Salato off a Regis turnover with 4:23 left in the quarter. First-year point guard Nevaeh Clark's (Cromwell) jump shot on a pass from junior guard Kya Mayo (Middletown) off a Regis turnover had given Eastern its first lead, 41-40, and Salato followed by scoring eight straight Eastern points (and ten of the team's 26 points in the quarter) to make it 49-43 with three minutes left in the third.
The Warriors stretched their lead to double digits, 61-50 on Salato's layup off a defensive rebound and assist from Clark with four minutes left in the fourth quarter and Eastern sealed the win by canning ten straight free throws over the final 1:37. Clark sank six of those freebie and senior guard Cara McGettigan (Southbury) four.
In that decisive 17-4 run over the first six minutes of the second half, Eastern got points from four different players: four each from the six-foot Salato, McGettigan and Clark, a conventional three-point play from Mayo and a jumper from 5-foot-11 inch first-year forward Alyssa Paquette (Claremont, NH). Paquette also had a blocked shot that set up Clark's points in the paint that pulled the Warriors to within one, 38-37 and necessitated a Regis timeout. Out of the timeout, the Pride turned the ball over and Clark gave Eastern its first lead, 41-40, with six minutes left in the quarter.
In the game, Salato was 13-of-18 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the stripe (now 16-of-17 from the line on the season). McGettigan contributed 14 points (5-of-6 FG, 4-of-4 FT), nine rebounds and four assists and Clark 13 points (7-of-8 FT), eight assists and six rebounds. Paquette had four points, four rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots. Eastern's starters averaged 34 minutes.
As the team, the Warriors converted 19 of 22 free throws to boost its season mark to 53-of-66 (80.3 percent), and all of their 54 points from the floor came inside the arc as Eastern attempted only two from three-point range.
Regis entered the game shooting just 18.3 percent from beyond the arc and connected on only three of 15, but all three came consecutively and from three different players midway through the first quarter that ignited the Pride's 28-point quarter.
Regis got 20 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals from 5-foot-4 inch senior guard Courtney Doherty and a double-double (17/13) from sophomore forward Madi Zancan.
Including a 57-48 first-round tournament loss to Muhlenberg Friday night, Salato had double-doubles in each game. In the tournament, she averaged 22.5 points and 12.0 rebounds with five assists, three blocks and three steals. She shot 62.5 percent from the floor and was 5-of-6 from the foul line. Mayo averaged 10.5 points and did not turn the ball over in 63 minutes, and Clark averaged 8.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 6.0 assists and was 8-of-10 from the stripe. In the tournament, Paquette chipped in 15 total points and eight total rebounds, with six assists and three blocked shots.
Eastern visits Western New England University Tuesday at 5 p.m. in a non-conference game.