WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – It took 21-time Little East Conference regular-season champion University of Southern Maine nearly 30 minutes to take its first lead against host Eastern Connecticut State University in the Little East Conference women's basketball opener for both schools Saturday afternoon at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.

But freshman guard Alexa Srolovitz's  three-point field goal in the closing seconds of the third quarter broke the fifth and final tie and gave the Huskies their first lead – a lead which they would not relinquish -- in their 51-43 victory.

After winning its first four home games, Eastern (4-3) lost its second at home in three days. Southern Maine (3-4), coming off a 31-point home loss to Bowdoin Tuesday, won for the first time in three games and captured its first on its opponent's home court after two opening losses this year.

Eastern scored the first six points of the game and later put together another six-point run that vaulted it into its largest lead, 16-6, four minutes into the second quarter. After missing ten of their first 11 shots and 11 of 13 in the first quarter, the Huskies got themselves back into striking distance by cutting the ten-point, second-quarter deficit to four, 21-17, by halftime.

Thanks to junior guard Julia DePoi (Brookfield), Eastern assembled its third run of six straight points midway through the third quarter to break a tie and move out to a six-point lead, 31-25, with four minutes left in the quarter. DePoi nailed her only three-point field goal of the game to snap a 25-all tie, then turned senior guard Victoria Pfohl's (Trumbull) steal into a conventional three-point play after sinking a free throw to push the Warriors into a six-point, 31-25 lead witih four minutes left in the third.

Sophomore guard Emily Nicholson's inside basket with 30 seconds left in the third quarter pulled USM even, and Srolovitz' three-point goal off a pass from sophomore guard Kayla Stacy at the buzzer ending the session gave the Huskies their first lead (36-33) – a lead which they would not give up.

After each team missed its first two shots of the fourth quarter, the Warriors scored to make it a one-point USM lead before the Huskies answered with the decisive run of the game – a string of nine straight points that put the visitors in command of a ten-point, 45-35 advantage with 4:28 left.

While the Warriors were missing four shots and turning the ball over once on five possession, USM scored nine in a row, Srolovitz' layup kicking off the Huskies' run and senior forward Gretchen Anderson finishing it off with a layup off a pass from Srolovitz that made it 45-35.

After missing ten of its first 11 shots, USM shot 42 percent from the floor the rest of the way. The Huskies shot 35.6 percent from the floor in the game while Eastern managed only 29.5 percent (18-of-61) from the field. The teams combined to convert 11 of 13 free throws but missed 35 of 40 from three-point range.

Anderson and Srolovitz led USM with 12 points each, Anderson adding a team-high nine rebounds and Anderson coming up with four steals.

Eastern, playing without a starting inside player, got 13 points and six rebounds from junior guard Jordyn Nappi (Southington) and 15 rebounds from senior forward Jill Ritrosky (Pittsfield, MA). DePoi tied her career high with ten rebounds. Making her first start of the year, senior forward Erin Brooks (Billerica, MA) added ten points and four rebounds and Pfohl handed out a game-high six assists.

Eastern hosts Westfield State University Tuesday at 8 p.m.