DARTMOUTH, Mass. – The Eastern Connecticut State University women's basketball team missed 14 of 15 shots and committed five turnovers in the first quarter and was never in contention as the Warriors dropped an 84-42 Little East Conference decision to the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Saturday afternoon at the Tripp Athletic Center.
Coming off a layoff of nearly a month and its first multiple-game winning streak of the season, Eastern (3-8, 2-1 LEC) entered action as one of four LEC unbeatens through the early going but trailed throughout in falling to 1-5 this season on its opponents' home court. Ranked No. 21 nationally and first in the LEC pre-season poll after reaching last year's tournament title game, UMass Dartmouth (8-2, 2-0 LEC) connected on five of eight field goals without a turnover in the first quarter in piling up a nine-point, 15-6 lead after ten minutes and remained perfect (4-0) at home this year.
Down by seven, 18-11 in the opening minutes of the second quarter, Eastern went cold for six minutes and the Corsairs counted by ripping off 14 unanswered points to move out to a 21-point, 32-11 lead with three minutes let in the half. UMass, which has featured a balanced attack this year, got points from four different players in that 14-point run, with graduate guard Jane McCauley coming off the bench for a three-point field goal and team season scoring leader and fifth-year guard Kaylin Zalewski capping the run with a conventional three-point play.
All-LEC graduate guard Teja Andrews continually penetrated the Eastern defense throughout the first half, scoring 14 points on 7-of-8 field goals and helping the Corsairs score 22 of their 39 first-half points in the paint. With two minutes left in the first half, Andrews had outscored Eastern as a team, 14-13.
In the first half, the Warriors shot 19.2 percent from the floor. Eastern converted seven of eight free throws in the first half but managed only 11 points from the floor. Despite averaging over 17 turnovers a game through its first nine games, UMD turned the ball over only once in the first half and capitalized on a dozen Eastern turnovers to score 11 points.
Although Eastern has won seven LEC tournament titles, UMass, which is looking for its first, has swept the season series from Eastern in four of the last seven seasons. The Corsairs were coming off a split of two games in Puerto Rico two weeks ago, losing to Hanover College (9-2), 77-72 before downing Randolph College (6-6), 70-48.
Senior forward Taylor Salato (East Haven) led Eastern with11 points as the Warriors' only double-figure scorer while 5-foot-5 inch first-year guard Liv Cassesse (Wallingford) led the Warriors in rebounding (9) for the third time this year, topping all players in the game in that department to raise her average to 6.5. First-year sophomore transfer Marissa Nudd (Colchester) finished with nine points.
Five players reached double figures for UMass Dartmouth, led by Andrews and Zalewski with 14 each, with the pair each grabbing eight rebounds.
Eastern continues in conference play Wednesday, hosting Western Connecticut State University (4-8, 2-1 LEC) at 6 p.m. The Warriors have won 11 straight and 20 of their last 21 against the Wolves, who have dropped three straight this year but have captured their last two LEC contests this year after dropping an 68-57 decision at home to Massachusetts Boston in their conference opener Dec. 1.