PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Sophomore guard Raquel Pederzani came off the bench for a game-high 26 points – scoring eight of her team's final 13 points – as the Johnson & Wales University women's basketball team defeated Eastern Connecticut State University, 59-51, Thursday evening at the Wildcat Center.

Having beaten Johnson & Wales (11-1) by an average of 23 points in each of the three previous victories over the Wildcats, Eastern (7-4) scored 11 of the first 13 points Thursday night before the hosts answered with a 22-7 run that pushed them into a six-point, 24-18 advantage halfway through the second quarter.

The Warriors led by four with six minutes left in the third quarter, but the Wildcats scored the final ten points to take a six-point, 42-36 lead into the final ten minutes.  The Warriors held Johnson & Wales scoreless from the floor and to just two points to take their final lead, 45-44, on a putback by senior forward Jill Ritrosky (Pittsfield, MA) with 6:30 left in the game.

A decisive 10-2 Johnson & Wales scoring spurt over the next four minutes was punctuated by the 5-foot-4 inch Pederzani's fourth three-point field goal of the game that made it 54-47 with 2:29 left. A minute later, Pederzani scored on a putback to seal the victory.

Coming off the bench for the first time this year, Pederzani was held scoreless from the floor through the first 15 minutes of the second half after tossing in 14 points in the first 20 minutes – including a four-point play with 37.6 second left in the first half and a long two-pointer at the first-half buzzer that gave the Wildcats a 32-29 halftime lead.

The Warriors forced numerous turnovers in the opening five minutes of the game to move out to an 11-2 lead, getting points from four different players.

Senior forward Erin Brooks (Billerica, MA) was Eastern's most dominant player, scoring a season-high 18 points and grabbing a career-high 13 rebounds. She was 8-of-11 from the floor to up her season percentage to 59.5. Ritrosky led the Warriors with 19 points and matched Brooks with 13 rebounds for her seventh double-double in 11 games this year.

As a team, Eastern shot just 36.1 percent from the floor, with three starters combining on just 3-of-23.

Six-foot-one inch sophomore center Ashley Thompson had 14 points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots for the Wildcats, Pederzani adding nine rebounds in 35 minutes to complement her 26 points.

Eastern returns to Little East Conference action Saturday, visiting Plymouth State University at 1 p.m.