Box Score
 PROVIDENCE, R.I.-- The Eastern Connecticut State University women's basketball team fell to Rhode Island College in a Little East Conference matchup Wednesday evening at the Murray Center, 61-50.

Both teams brought three-game winning streaks into play and shared second place in the conference behind unbeaten UMass Dartmouth (14-2, 7-0 LEC), with Rhode Island College (12-5, 7-1 LEC) improving to 7-1 at home with the win and Eastern (7-10, 6-2 LEC) dropping to 2-6 away from Geissler Gym. With its fifth straight win over Eastern, four-time defending LEC tournament champion Rhode Island remains a half-game behind UMass Dartmouth while Eastern is a game ahead of the University of Southern Maine (9-8, 5-3 LEC), which trimmed visiting Plymouth State University, 63-56, Wednesday.

Despite RIC  getting out to a 17-point, 33-16 lead, the Anchorwomen did not score in the last four-and-a half minutes of the second quarter. Eastern clawed its way back to cut the margin down to a single digit deficit lead of eight at half. Senior forward Taylor Salato (East Haven) led the way with 13 points in the first half, 24 on the evening as the team's only double-digit scorer. Salato led the team in scoring, rebounds (9) and assists (4) without a turnover in 38 minutes.

The Anchorwomen dominated the boards, outrebounding the Warriors 56-36. The Warriors only had six offensive rebounds compared to RIC's 23. Sophomore guard Meagan Schuermann had a game- high 16 rebounds while senior guard Madison Medbury recorded 14 points with 11 rebounds and nine assists, one assist shy of her second triple double this season. Medbury was named to the NEWBA second team this week. This is her fifth time being recognized this winter by NEWBA.

First-year point guard Liv Cassesse (Wallingford), last week's LEC and New England Rookie-of-the-Week, contributed eight points, four rebounds, two steals and two assists without a turnover in 35 minutes, the Warriors equalling their fourth-lowest turnover total (11) of the year. Cassesse is second in the LEC in assists (3.1), third in free throw percentage (82.0), and ninth in rebounding (7.0).

Twelve Warriors saw the floor including first-year forward Anaka Eaton (Coventry), who chipped in two points off an end-of-game hook shot. This was her second basket this season. Sophomore forward Marissa Nudd (Colchester) had eight points, four rebounds and an assist. Senior guard Kya Mayo (Middletown) had a game and season-high of three blocks along with four rebounds and two points.

RIC won all three meetings last season, two in the regular season and most recently in the LEC tournament semifinal, knocking off the fourth-seeded Warriors. After winning the 2023 LEC tournament title, the Anchorwomen advanced to the NCAA Final Four.

Eastern faces UMass Boston at  Geissler Gym Saturday at 3 p.m. for the Breast Cancer Awareness game. The Beacons  (6-11,3-5 LEC), who have alternated wins and losses over the last nine games, fell to Eastern earlier in the season by 11 points at the Clark Athletic Center. The Warriors bring a 12-game winning streak against the Beacons into Saturday. In Eastern's 64-53 win over UMB six weeks ago, Salato and Nudd combined for 42 points, with Salato grabbing 17 rebounds and Nudd seven. Eastern overcame a four-point halftime deficit and 30 total turnovers in that game by outscoring the hosts 18-6 in the third quarter.