WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – After squandering most all of a 15-point lead over the final 11 minutes of the game, the Eastern Connecticut State University women's basketball team converted enough of their final six free throw attempts to survive, 62-58, in a Little East Conference game Saturday afternoon at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.
Trailing by seven with three minutes left, Castleton (7-16, 3-11 LEC) cut the gap to one, 59-58, on an inside basket by junior forward Luna Perry-St. Peter before senior forward Taylor Salato (East Haven) – ranked second all-time at Eastern (10-13, 9-5 LEC) in free throw percentage – canned a pair from the stripe to make it 61-58 with 18.6 seconds left. Following a timeout, the Spartans failed on a potential game-tying three-point field goal attempt, and Salato hit the first of two with 1.0 seconds left to ice the win.
With its third straight win, Eastern, unofficially, clinches a first-round LEC tournament home game Feb. 25 at 6 p.m. as either the No. 3 or No. 4 seed.
A 12-point loser to Eastern at home a month ago, Castleton led for most of the first half and by as many as nine late in the first quarter. The Warriors used a late rush to close to within four after the first quarter. Trailing by seven, 28-21 midway through the second quarter, Eastern used a 22-2 scoring run to move out to a 13-point, 43-30 lead midway through the third quarter and took a comfortable 15-point lead into the final 11 minutes.
With 17 of her game-high 29 points, Salato scored over half of Eastern's 32 points in the second half, also grabbing eight of her 13 rebounds over the final 20 minutes. She was 9-of-12 from the stripe with three blocked shots and did not turn the ball over in 36 minutes. Sophomore forward Marissa Nudd (Colchester) scored 11 of her 13 points in the first half, when the Warriors overcame the nine-point deficit to pull even, 30-30, at the break.
Eastern missed all nine of its three-point field goal attempts in the game and was outscored 15-0 from distance, but outscored the Spartans by nine from the foul line. Sophomore guard Julia Knowles (Waterford) followed Salato with nine rebounds, first-year guard Liv Cassesse (Wallingford) adding seven and Nudd six.
Season scoring leader Stasia Epler led the Spartans with 21 points – 14 in the first half -- with Perry St.-Peter adding 11 points and seven rebounds and sophomore guard Schuylar Nolan ten points. Juninor forward Emily Adams led Castleton with 11 rebounds, helping the Spartans to a +6 edge in that department.
In the game, the Warriors cashed in Castleton's 19 turnovers for 22 points. The Spartans managed only three points (none in the second half) off Eastern turnovers.
In the earlier win over Castleton, Salato led all players with 27 points and 12 rebounds, with Cassesse adding a career-high 20 points and pulling down eight rebounds, With Nudd adding 19 points and ten rebounds.
Eastern hosts four-time LEC defending tournament champion Rhode Island College Wednesday at 5 p.m. in its regular-season home finale before visiting Plymouth State University next Saturday at 12:30 p.m. in the final game of the regular season.