WILLIMANTIC, Conn. –Senior Kya Mayo (Middletown) sank two three point field goals over the final four minutes of regulation that allowed the Eastern Connecticut State University women's basketball team to erase a late six-point deficit and go on to a 53-47 Little East Conference overtime victory over Plymouth State University Saturday afternoon at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.
Plymouth (3-12, 0-7 LEC), which had stunned the Warriors by eight points on the final day of the regular season last year at Geissler Gym to end a 23-game losing streak to Eastern (7-9, 6-1 LEC), trailed by 11 late in the first half Saturday but limited the Warriors to six third-quarter points and broke a tie with six straight points to take a six-point 42-36 lead into the final four minutes of regulation.
While Plymouth was missing its final six shots of regulation – including a follow-up by graduate guard Alessia Salzillo as regulation ended –Mayo shook from a poor shooting afternoon (4-of-12 to that point) by turning a pass from senior Taylor Salato (East Haven) into a three-point field goal that made it 42-39 with 3:47 left, and after the teams combined to miss nine straight shots, Mayo swished a corner three-point field goal off an assist from first-year player Liv Cassesse (Wallingford) to tie the game at 42-all with 29.4 seconds left.
With Salato, the team scoring and rebounding leader having fouled out with 1:39 left in regulation and the Warriors trailing by three, Eastern took the lead for good, 46-45, halfway through overtime on Nevaeh Clark's (Cromwell) inside bucket and sophomore Marissa Nudd (Colchester) and Cassesse combined to score the team's last seven points on a combination of a jumper, layup and free throws.
Although the Warriors could not pull completely away, they never trailed in the first half and scored eight points in a row over three minutes to move out to an 11-point, 26-15 lead with two minutes left in the half. Mayo connected on her first three-pointer of the game to get run going, Salato sank one of two free throws sophomore Julia Knowles (Waterford) stuck a jump, and the 5-foot-5 inch Cassesse drove inside to highlight the run. The Panthers chipped away in the latter stages of the third quarter, closing out the session with the final seven points to make it a one-point game heading into the final ten minutes. In that late third-quarter run, Hailey Malozzi twice scored inside – the second coming on her own steal – and Raegan Peck connected on her team's first three-point field goal after 13 misses at the horn ending the period.
Mayo and Nudd each had 15 points and Nudd and Cassesse (her fifth game of at least ten) each grabbed ten rebounds. Salato had eight points and nine rebounds. Ten of Mayo's season-high points came after the break.
The 5-foot-11 inch Malozzi led all players with 21 points but was her team's only double-figure scorer. Eastern was able to limit Plymouth season scoring leader Sophie George to three points on 1-of-7 shooting from the floor. Salzillo had seven rebounds, with Malozzi and Ashley Stephens each grabbing six.
The teams combined to miss 36 of 43 three-point attempts and shot a combined 30.1 percent from the floor.
It marked only the fifth overtime game between the teams in the 85-game series – the first since the Warriors escaped with a 100-94 double-overtime win in 2004 at Foley Gymnasium.
The win is a season-high third straight and fourth in a row in the conference for Eastern, which climbed over the .500 mark at home, at 4-3. Since opening at 0-5, the Warriors have taken seven of 11. With the win, Eastern remains in a tie for second place in the LEC with four-time defending LEC champion Rhode Island College, both teams a half-game behind unbeaten leader UMass Dartmouth.
Eastern visits Rhode Island College Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in an LEC game before returning home Saturday to host UMass Boston at 3 p.m. in conference play.