KEENE, N.H.  – The Eastern Connecticut State University women's basketball team held Keene State College to one field goal through the first eight minutes, limiting the hosts to 20.8 percent over the first 20 minutes and 15 first-half points in posting a 62-55 Little East Conference victory Tuesday evening at Spaulding Gymnasium.

With its fifth straight conference win and seven win overall in its last eight, Eastern (11-5, 5-1 LEC) retains a share of first place in the conference with the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, which downed visiting University of Massachusetts Boston, 85-78, Tuesday evening. The Warriors have won seven straight against Keene (9-7, 2-4 LEC), last losing at Spaulding Gym five years ago.

The Owls went long stretches in the first half without a field goal, at one point missing five field goals and turning the ball over five times on ten possessions midway through the stanza. Eastern's 12-point halftime lead was its largest of the half.

Shooting nearly 50 percent from the floor in the second half and cutting their second-half turnovers in half, the Owls sliced a 16-point deficit to five with just over seven minutes left, and were in possession of the ball with a chance to pull even closer before turning the ball over twice. Sophomore guard Julia DePoi (Brookfield) made them pay by canning her only three-point field goal of the game off an assist from senior guard Taylor McBride (Willimantic) to make it 47-39 with six minutes left, and after Keene missed a pair of inside attempts, junior forward Jill Ritrosky (Pittsfield, MA) sank a jumper to restore Eastern's double-digit lead (49-39), with 5:30 left.

In the final two minutes, Keene was within eight, but sophomore guard Jordyn Nappi (Southington) and senior guard Kristina Forsman (Newington) both sank two free throws to make it a 12-point margin with under a minute remaining.

With 17 points, Forsman led the Warriors in scoring for the third straight game, and Ritrosky – the LEC rebounding leader -- paced the team on the boards for the tenth time in the last 12 games with 11 rebounds. Ritrosky amassed her seventh double-double in the last 11 games by adding ten  points – all in the second half. Nappi finished with ten points and senior forward Shannon McCourt (New Fairfield) recorded her first double-double since the opening weekend of the season with 12 points and ten rebounds in 22 minutes, exceeding the career 900-point plateau with her first points of the evening.

Eastern connected on 18 of 23 free throws in the game, with Forsman going 7-for-8, Nappi 5-for-5 and Ritrosky 4-for-5.

Senior forward Courtney Roberts of Keene led all players with 19 points, sophomore forward Stephanie D'Annolfo grabbing ten rebounds but turning the ball over eight times.

Eastern hosts Rhode Island College (4-11, 3-3) Saturday at 1 p.m. at Geissler Gymnasium. The Anchorwomen applied the only blemish to Eastern's conference record, upsetting the Warriors in the LEC opener, 64-60, Dec. 6 at the Murray Center. Rhode Island was picked for seventh in the pre-season, Eastern first.