WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – Senior forward Taylor Salato (East Haven) scored 17 of her season-high 27 points in the second half to help prevent the Western Connecticut State University women's basketball team from pulling any closer after cutting a 23-point halftime deficit in half as Eastern Connecticut State University posted a 67-56 Little East Conference victory Wednesday evening at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasum.

Now 20-1 against WestConn (4-9, 2-2 LEC) in its last 21 games against the Wolves, Eastern (4-8, 3-1 LEC) won its second straight home game after losing its first two. It was the fourth lowest point total allowed by Eastern this year.

The Warriors never trailed after senior guard Kya Mayo (Middletown) scored an inside bucket that sparked a run of 12 straight points midway through the first quarter that turned a one-point deficit into an 11-point lead with 80 seconds left in the first quarter.

Eastern led by 13 after one quarter, and doubled WestConn's total in the second quarter to take a 23-point, 43-20 lead into the second half.

In the third quarter, Eastern missed 12 of 15 field goals and four of five free throws and turned the ball over three times and was limited to seven points. Salato, however, scored 17 of the team's 24 second-half points on 50 percent shooting (7-of-14) from the floor and 3-of-4 marksmanship from the foul line to prevent the Wolves from getting any closer than the final 11-point margin. In the team's 17-point fourth quarter, Salato contributed 11 points.

With her game-high point total, Salato moved to within 14 points of 1,000 in her 84-game career. In her career, Salato also has 574 rebounds and 60 blocked shots, with her free throw percentage of 83.5 ranking her first all-time.

Salato and first-year sophomore transfer Marissa Nudd (Colchester) combined for 48 points of the team's final point total. It marked the second time (in the last four games) this year that the pair have each scored at least 20 points in a contest. Nudd dropped in 18 of her 21 points in the first half (she attempted only four shots after the break) on 8-of-15 shooting. The pair were 18-of-41 from the floor and 12 of 16 from the stripe.

Eastern committed only 11 turnovers in the game – its third-lowest mark of the year – with those miscues leading to only eight WestConn points.

For the fourth time this year, 5-foot-5 inch first-year guard Liv Cassesse (Wallingford) pulled down double-figure rebounds to go along with five assists and five steals. She led the Warriors with ten boards to raise her season average to 6.8 – second only to Salato (9.2). Mayo finished with 11 points.

Six-foot freshman Nia Rencher, the team's scoring leader at 17.1 points per game, led the Wolves with 11 points while six-foot senior Alyssa Virtue led both teams with 16 rebounds (and two blocked shots), with freshman Fatmata Barrie adding 11 rebounds and eight points.

Eastern hosts Wheaton College in a non-conference game Saturday at 1 p.m.