WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – In her first start of the year, sophomore guard Julia Knowles (Waterford) shut down the Little East Conference three-point leader without a point and senior forward Taylor Salato (East Haven) survived early foul trouble to score 17 points in the second half as the Eastern Connecticut State University women's basketball team opened conference play with a 50-40 victory over the University of Southern Maine Wednesday night at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.
Trailing by two points after three quarters, Eastern (2-7, 1-0 LEC) shot 54.5 percent from the floor and connected on all seven of its free throw in outscoring Southern Maine (4-4, 0-1 LEC), 20-8, in the fourth quarter en route to its fifth straight win at home over the Huskies in as many years and first home victory this year in three tries.
Salato, the LEC's second-leading scorer, sat out for all but three minutes of the first half after being flagged for two fouls in the first three minutes of the game. She scored 17 of her 19 points in the second half, including 13 of the team's 20 fourth-quarter points. Ranked second in the LEC in free throw percentage, Salato connected on all seven of her second-half free throws to lead the Warriors – the conference's leading free-throw shooting team -- to a perfect 12-of-12 showing from the stripe
Ranked first in the LEC in three-pointers and second in three-point percentage, Southern Maine failed on 16 of its 17 attempts from distance and was just 5-of-15 from the foul line. The Huskies shot under 30 percent from the floor in three of fourth quarters, finishing at 29.3 percent for the game.
Knowles played a season-high 36 minutes. She took only three shots and was scoreless in the game but spearheaded a defense which limited USM to exactly 40 points for the second time in the last two games at Geissler Gym. Knowles contributed six rebounds (helping Eastern to a +11 advantage on the boards) and four assists and a blocked shot with only two turnovers.
With Salato mostly a spectator in the first half, sophomore forward Marissa Nudd (Colchester) kept the Warriors in contention by scoring 13 of the team's 21 points over the first 20 minutes. Nudd and Salato combined to shoot 13-of-27 from the floor in the game, helping to offset a 2-for-21 performance by the other starters.
Nudd led all players with 20 points, combining with Salato to take all of the team's 12 free throws in the game. Pound-for-pound the conference's top rebounder, 5-foot-5 inch point guard Liv Cassesse (Wallingford) grabbed double-digit rebounds for the third time this year, leading all players in the game with ten. Her season mark of 6.3 ranks second only to Taylor on the team, 13th in the LEC.
Junior forward Vanessa Vaughan had 13 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals for USM, with freshman guard Lucy Wiles topping the team with 14 points.
Eastern visits the University of Massachusetts Boston in an LEC game Saturday at 1 p.m. in its final game of 2024.