UNION, NJ – Following their road opener at Babson College on Tuesday night, Eastern Connecticut State University women's basketball continue their road trip to start the season with the Kean Classic, hosted by Kean University this Friday and Saturday. The Warriors (0-2) faced off against Stevens Tech (1-1) on Friday night with a chance to play the winner of the Kean University-Baruch College game that would follow in the championship game on Saturday. A back and forth game between the two squads ended with the Ducks pulling away to down Eastern by a final score of 58-49.
 
    Stevens Tech would jump out to an early seven-point lead in the first quarter largely due to the play of senior forward Jessica Broad. During the Ducks 10-3 run to open the game, Broad recorded five points, two steals, two assists, and a rebound. However, the Warriors would march back into the game in the waning minutes of the first when senior forward Anna Barry (Andover) and senior guard Jenna Serrantino (Cromwell) combined for seven points, including three free throws by Serrantino and two baskets from Barry which helped bring the deficit down to three. Eastern would trail by the same margin, 15-12, as the second quarter got underway having closed out the first with a mini-run of their own over the final 3 ½ minutes.
 
    The Warriors would pull within one as the second quarter began, before Stevens Tech would respond with a 5-0 run lead by Broad and senior guard Allie Moss to push their lead back up to six. Eastern would come back with a 5-0 run of their own off a three-point play by senior guard Julie Keckler (Trumbull) and bucket by senior guard Danielle O'Brien (Rockland, MA). Trailing by one, the Warrior defense recorded two blocks and two rebounds, one of each for Barry and first-year guard Kya Mayo (Middletown) over the course of less than a minute while being unable to take the lead. The Ducks would possess a three-point lead with just over four minutes to play in the first half before an over two-minute scoring drought from both teams that was broken by junior guard Danielle Cornetta when she hit a three with just over 1 ½ minutes remaining. Heading into the break, Mayo and senior forward Aiyana Ward (Waterbury) converted back-to-back baskets to trail 27-25.
 
    Emerging from the locker room, Stevens Tech jumped out to a 10-point lead with a 9-1 run over a span of three minutes lead by Broad again with five points. Keckler and Ward would snap the run with a respective three-pointer and layup to trim the deficit down to five. The Ducks were unrelenting, but the Warriors hung tough and used their own 9-1 run at the end of the third to pull within one point before a Moss layup put Stevens Tech ahead 43-40 going into the final 10 minutes.
 
    As they had done at the start of every quarter, the Ducks went on an early 11-2 run over the first four minutes to give themselves a 12-point lead which would prove to be insurmountable for Eastern. The Warriors would pull within seven on a layup by Keckler with under four minutes to go, but Stevens Tech would hold them to two points over the final 3:59 of the fourth and hand Eastern their second straight loss to start the season, 58-49.
 
    Over the course of the evening, the Ducks used 21 turnovers to create 24 points on offense to the Warriors 14 points off 19 turnovers along with outscoring Eastern on the fastbreak 15-0. Jess Broad and Danielle Cornetta combined for 38 of Stevens Tech's points in the game.

    Aiyana Ward finished the game with 10 points on 5-11 shooting and 14 rebounds (10 offensive), which are a career-high for a single game to earn her first double-double in three seasons as a Warrior.
 
    Anna Barry record 12 points along with eight rebounds and three blocks while Julie Keckler led the way for the Warriors in points with 14 for the evening.
 
    With the loss, the Warriors will now take on Baruch College in the Kean Classic consolation game on Saturday after the Bearcats fell against Kean University, 83-47. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 PM in Union, New Jersey at Harwoord Arena on the campus of Kean University. Eastern is 2-0 all-time against Baruch College, having beat them twice in the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament during the 2010-2011 season, 75-65 in the first round, and again during the second round of the 2014-2015 tournament, 71-62.