Box Score WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – The Eastern Connecticut State University women's basketball team used a strong second half and Hartwick College a decisive first half in winning their respective first-round games Saturday evening and moving into the championship game of the Eastern Tip-Off Tournament.
At right: Sophomore co-captain Jill Ritrosky drives for two of her six second-half points. (Photo by Liam Murphy)
In the season-opener for all of the tournament teams, Eastern qualified for the final for the 30th time in 34 seasons by holding Johnson & Wales without a field goal for 19 minutes, outscoring the Wildcats 26-2 spanning the final seven minutes of the first half and first12 of the second en route to a 62-39 victory in Saturday's first women's semifinal.
Hartwick rattled off 12 straight points during an opening 19-5 rush on the way to a 94-50 victory over Mount Saint Mary College in Saturday's second semifinal. Both teams were competing in the tip-off tournament for the first time.
Eastern looks for its 18th tournament title when it faces Hartwick Sunday at 3 p.m. in the title game of the 34th annual tournament in the first encounter ever between the programs. Johnson & Wales faces Mount Saint Mary in Sunday's 1 p.m. consolation game.
Eastern 62, Johnson & Wales 39
Eastern missed nine of its first ten shots and fell behind by 11 against the Wildcats but the Warriors closed with a 16-2 streak that vaulted them into a three-point, 29-26 lead. After going scoreless from the floor over the final 6:40 of the half, the Wildcats could muster only a single free throw through the first 12 minutes of the second half as Eastern surged to a 24-point, 51-27 lead.
Led by six-foot freshman Lindsay Langenauer (Cromwell) and sophomore Brianna Leonard (Amherst, MA), Eastern outrebounded Johnson & Wales, 62-24 and limited the Wildcats to 19.4 percent shooting after the break. Junior Kristina Forsman (Newington) had a game-high 16 points for Eastern and freshman Jordyn Nappi (Southington) ten. The Warriors outscored the Wildcats 14-5 from the foul line, surviving 27 turnovers and 32.8 shooting. In her debut, Langenauer grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds and Leonard ten.
Justine Hughes was Johnson & Wales' only double-figure scorer, finishing with ten.
Hartwick 94, Mount Saint Mary 50
In a game featuring two ECAC tournament qualifiers a year ago (Hartwick winning the Metro Region) the Hawks reeled off 12 straight points to break from a two-point lead and qualify for Sunday's title game.
In the opening eight minutes which virtually decided matters, six-foot Taylor Vonasek scored five of her game total of seven points in a span of one minute with a bucket in the paint and three-point field goal. Maria Foglia was 4-for-5 from the stripe in those early minutes. Foglia was 7-for-8 from the foul line in the first eight minutes and ended the game by connecting on nine of 11 free throws.
Hartwick's Kait Veit led all players with 21 points, Foglia adding 19 and Brittney Dumas 16, with Dumas also grabbing a game-high nine rebounds.
Mount Saint Mary gave the ball away 25 times and was outrebounded better than 2-to-1. The Knights got 15 points from Jessica Perrone and 14 from Rachel Perrone, with Natalie Candarelli coming off the bench for ten.
Saturday's Results
Eastern Conn. 62, Johnson & Wales 39
Hartwick College 94, Mount Saint Mary College 50
Sunday's Schedule
Consolation Game
Johnson & Wales vs. Mount Saint Mary College, 1 p.m.
Championship Game
Eastern Conn. vs. Hartwick College, 3 p.m.
