Box Score WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – For the first time in the 29-year history of the Little East Conference basketball tournament, one institution will serve as host for the men's and women's tournament while holding the distinctions as the No. 1 tournament seeds.
Tuesday, the No. 1 Eastern Connecticut State University (18-8) women's basketball team raced to a 20-point lead in the first nine minutes and eased to a 77-37 victory over No. 8 Plymouth State University (6-20) to advance as host of the semifinals and final Friday and Saturday at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium. Later Tuesday, the top-seeded Eastern men's team whipped No. 8 University of Southern Maine, 80-39, to advance to the semifinals and final which it will host Friday and Saturday.
Game times are scheduled for 1, 3, 6 and 8 Friday, but the exact order of games has not been announced. The times for the men's and women's championship games Saturday have also not yet been announced.
While the same institution hosted the men's and women's tournament six times in the first seven years of the tournament (most recently in 1993), this marks the first time that the host has been the No. 1 seed in both the men's and women's tournaments.
Eastern will face No. 4 Keene State College (17-9) Friday in the semifinals. The Owls dumped No. 5 University of Southern Maine, 63-46 in a first-round game Tuesday night at Keene, NH. In the other semifinal, No. 2 Massachusetts Dartmouth meets No. 3 Massachusetts Boston.
The Warriors forced Plymouth State into 23.1 percent shooting while connecting on 50.8 percent of their own shots while winning for the 12th time in the last 15 games. Senior forward Shannon McCourt (New Fairfield) led all players with 17 points, sinking an elbow jumper with 4:59 left in the first half to become the 12th player in program history with 1,000 points. McCourt brings 1,005 career points into Friday's semifinal.
Eastern gained the No. 1 tournament seed on the final day of the regular when its victory over the University of Southern Maine was coupled with UMass Dartmouth's loss to Keene State. The Warriors and Owls split during the regular season, each winning on the other's home court. Eastern won, 62-55, Jan. 20 before Keene rebounded for a 48-35 verdict Feb. 11.
