Box Score PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Sophomore guard
Julie Keckler (Trumbull) led four double-figure scorers with 17 points and the Eastern Connecticut State University women's basketball team outscored Johnson & Wales University by 19 points off offensive rebounds in a 79-60 non-conference win Thursday evening at the Wildcat Center.
Eastern (7-2) never trailed, using a 30-6 run to turn a two-point lead with three minutes left in the first quarter into a 26-point, 42-16 advantage with three minutes left in the first half. After Johnson & Wales (7-5) sliced the Eastern lead to 13 four minutes into the second half, the Warriors answered with a 9-2 burst that helped carry them into a 19-point, 58-39 lead entering the final quarter. Four players chipped in points in that 9-2 stretch, with six-foot sophomore forward
Anna Barry (Andover) capping it with an inside basket and a fastbreak layup, the latter set up on a steal and pass from senior guard
Sabrina LeMere (North Branford).
Eastern remained perfect away from home (7-0) in posting its third straight victory in its first game since Dec. 17. The Wildcatshave lost three straight and four of five -- losing at home for only the second time against five wins.
Keckler led Eastern by scoring 11 points in the first half on the way to tying her season-high point total, and six-foot sophomore forward Barry had seven of her game-high ten rebounds to help the Warriors to an 18-point, 42-24 lead. Barry finished with ten points for her third straight double-double, fourth this season.
LeMere added a season-high 14 points (6-of-8 from the floor) and added three assists and three steals and sophomore guard
Danielle O'Brien (Rockland, MA) contributed ten points, a career-high seven
rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Barry, senior forward
Mya Villard (Cromwell) and O'Brien combined for 11 offensive rebounds that helped Eastern to an overall +13 advantage on the boards (19-8 offensively) and a 21-2 margin on second-chance points.
At right: Freshman Mariah Dunn contributed nine of the team's 31 bench points in Thursday's win.
Johnson & Wales season scoring leader Tiondra Hands -- a five-foot three-point-shooting guard -- led her team with 19 points but was limited to four shots and seven points by Eastern's defense in the first half. Team rebounding leader Maddy Moro -- a six-foot senior -- equalled her season average of ten rebounds and added nine points (three shy of her season average).
While the hosts utilized only one substitute, seven Eastern players contributed off the bench, led by LeMere and freshman forward
Mariah Dunn (Meriden), who had nine points and two rebounds in 21 minutes. No Eastern starter played as many as 30 minutes. Sophomore forward
Aiyana Ward (Waterbury) pulled down five rebounds and added four points in eight minutes before fouling out.
Eastern plays its first Little East Conference home game Saturday, hosting the University of Boston at 1 p.m. at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.
