Box Score KEENE, N.H. --  Taylor Salato (East Haven)  and Nevaeh Clark (Cromwell) combined for all but eight of their team's points -- Salato finishing with career-highs of 35 points and 23 rebounds -- as the Eastern Connecticut State University women's basketball team escaped with its 13^th consecutive win at Keene State College's Spaulding Gymnasium, 62-59, Tuesday afternoon in a Little East Conference game.

In a singular performance which left her just one point shy of the 30-year-old game scoring record, Salato – with help from Clark – singlehandedly willed Eastern (5-9, 3-2 LEC) to its 11^th straight win overall over the stubborn Owls (6-6, 2-2 LEC).

Eastern had last lost to Keene at Spaulding Gym on Feb. 9, 2010, 59-56, but Tuesday, the Warriors could not shake the Owls until the final seconds of a back-and-forth game.  Eastern never trailed after first-year player Clark's (career-high 19 points, five rebounds, four assists) jumper with just under two minutes left in the third quarter made it 41-40 after three, and the Warriors went ahead for good, 49-47, on another Clark jumper with 6:41 left.

Six-foot junior Salato's layup off an assist from first-year guard Julia Knowles (Waterford) pushed the Warriors' lead to five, 62-57, with 73 seconds left, but it took Salato's only steal of the game and Keene standout rookie Brynn Rautiola's (24 points) only turnover with four seconds left to seal the team's second win this year in five games on their opponent's court.

Seconds prior to the game-clinching steal, Salato's shot to break Eastern Hall of Famer Missy Kowolenko's game scoring record was blocked by 6-foot-1 inch junior Samantha Lee.

After Salato (8 points) and Clark (4) combined for 12 of Eastern's 14 third-quarter pointers, the pair proceeded to also dominate the final quarter, with Salato netting 14 (including the final eight) and Clark five when the Warriors posted their highest-scoring quarter (21 points) of the game.

Clark finished with all three of her team's three-point field goals (which was half of her season total entering the game). Salato and Clark were a combined 22 of 36 from the floor and 7-of-10 from the four line for 54 points. In 40 minutes, Salato also blocked three shots, playing the final 2:31 with four fouls.

In a rarity, both teams' starters scored every point, with five substitutes playing 30 scoreless minutes. Keene's starters played all but three minutes. Behind the 5-foot-7 inch Rautiola, last week's New England Rookie-of-the-Week, senior Jackie Alibrandi had 14 points and five rebounds, Lee ten points and seven rebounds and Valerie Luizzi (3-of-20 FG) seven points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Sophomore Avery Stewart, who appeared in two games at Eastern last year before transferring in January, had four points, five assists and three rebounds in 40 minutes. The 5-foot-9 inch Stewart scored off a put-back late in the first half that helped the Owls to a five-point, 32-27 halftime

With Keene leading by four midway through the third quarter, Salato scored inside, hit two free throws following her own defensive rebound, and converted another inside bucket off a turnover and Clark's assist, and Clark's jumper with two minutes left provided the Warriors with their one-point, 41-40 lead, heading into the final quarter. The last of Salato's eight third-quarter points gave her 500 in her 59-game career.

At the outset of the game, Eastern took control by scoring nine straight points following a Keene basket off the tip, but promptly gave the momentum -- and later the lead -- back. Rautiola, coming off scoring 58 points in the team's first two LEC wins of the season last week, scored 14 of her team's first 18 points on an assortment of three-point field goals, conventional three-point plays, inside baskets and free throws, and Stewart's putback gave the Owls their first lead since 2-0,22-21, with four minutes left in the half.

Thursday at 5 p.m., Eastern hosts Castleton University  (7-7, 1-4 LEC), which was trimmed by visiting Plymouth State University, 67-66, Tuesday afternoon.