WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – The Eastern Connecticut State University women's basketball team connected on its first six shots in scoring ten consecutive points in the game's opening 90 seconds and went on to its ninth consecutive win, 70-46, over Castleton University in a Little East Conference game Saturday afternoon at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.
 
With its eighth straight conference win, Eastern (18-4, 12-1 LEC) moves to within a win (with three games remaining) of clinching a first-round LEC tournament bye as one of the top two seeds when the tournament gets underway with first-round games Feb. 21.
 
Castleton (14-7, 7-5 LEC)  had a three-game winning streak ended but remains in fourth place in the LEC with four games remaining – two games ahead of the University of Massachusetts Boston in the chase for clinching a first-round tournament home game as either the No. 3 or No. 4 seed.
 

For the eighth straight game and 14^th time this year, Eastern's opponent has failed to reach 50 points.
 
After Castleton scored the opening basket Saturday, Eastern countered with consecutive three-point field goals from seniors Jenna Serrantino (Cromwell) and Julie Keckler (Trumbull) around a Spartan turnover, then got a pair of free throws each from senior Mariah Dunn (Meriden) and Keckler (the result of a Castleton bench technical foul) to move out to a 10-2 lead.
 
Eastern was never seriously threatened after limiting the Spartans to single digits in each of the first two quarters and eased to a 42-18 halftime lead.
 
In racing to a 22-9 lead after one quarter, Eastern shot nearly 50 percent from the floor, with Dunn and senior All-America Anna Barry (Andover) each connecting on two field goals and Dunn also going 4-for-4 from the stripe and finishing with eight first-quarter points.
 
The conference's top free-throw shooting team, Eastern was 13-of-15 from the stripe, with Dunn (6-of-6) and sophomore forward Taylor Salato (East Haven) (4-of-5) leading the way. Salato converted her first free throw attempt of the game  to give her 20 straight over four games before missing the second of the two-shot foul in the first minute of the second quarter.
 
In her last five games off the bench, Salato has finished in double figures, leading both teams with 16 points (6-of-8 FG) Saturday. Barry had her 14^th double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds, as well as three blocked shots (giving her more than 50 in a season for the second time) and Serrantino matched her career high for the second time in three games with ten boards.  Keckler had 12 points, six rebounds and five assists.
 
Castleton shot just 28.1 percent from the floor, including 4-of-25 from distance, and was outrebounded by 16. Elise Magro led the Spartans with 13 points and five assists and senior Gwyn Tatton grabbed a team-high ten rebounds.
 
In two wins over Castleton this year, Salato averaged 15 points and 5.5 rebounds with a 61 shooting percentage. Barry averaged 14.5 points and 11.5 rebounds with a 56 shooting percentage. Eastern limited the Spartans' leading scorer to  21 percent shooting (9-of-44) from the floor in two games and allowed Castleton just a 27 shooting percentage.
 
Eastern hosts two-time defending champion Rhode Island College Wednesday at 5 p.m. in a meeting of the conference's top two teams. Rhode Island (12-0) has won 18 straight, including a 51-37 victory over Eastern Jan. 4 at the Murray Center.