PROVIDENCE, R.I.- Although it was ranked seventh in the Little East Conference pre-season women's basketball poll, defending champion Rhode Island College trimmed the pre-season coaches' favorite – Eastern Connecticut State University – by a score of 64-60 in the conference opener for both schools Saturday afternoon at The Murray Center.

After losing 2013-14 LEC Player-of-the-Year Vandell Andrade, Rhode Island (2-5) turned to freshman guard Jess Korzec and sophomore guard Alex Moore to win its second straight game after opening the season with five straight losses. Korzec had a career-high 26 points and Moore 22 as the Anchorwomen handed Eastern (4-4) its fourth straight loss. The win is the second straight for RIC over Eastern, both by four points.

The Anchorwomen moved out to a 17-point, 47-30 lead four minutes into the second half before Eastern answered with an 18-4 run that cut the deficit to three, 51-48, with nine minutes left. Eastern moved to within one point, 61-60 with two minutes left on a jump shot by senior forward Shannon McCourt (New Fairfield).  Junior forward Devin Hill then canned one of two free throws and after both teams missed shots, Moore stole the ball with 16 seconds left and Korzec sank one of two free throws to make it 63-60 with 13 seconds left. Following a timeout,  the six-foot Hill blocked Eastern's attempted game-tying three-pointer with three seconds left to secure the RIC victory.

Junior forward Jill Ritrosky (Pittsfield, MA), Eastern's scoring and rebounding leader this year,  had 11 points and 19 rebounds, while sophomore guard Jordynn Nappi (Southington) tossed in a team-high 16 points and sophomore guard Julia DePoi (Brookfield)14. Eastern shot just 31.0 percent from the floor and 52.9 percent from the line (9-of-17).

Korzec and Moore combined to sink 16 of 21 shots from the floor, Moore connecting on four of five three-pointers.

Eastern closes out first semester play at Clark University Tuesday at 5 p.m. in a non-conference game.