Box Score
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. --  If the Eastern Connecticut State University women's basketball team entertains hopes of regaining its winning ways this year after two sub-par seasons, junior All-Little East Conference forward Marissa Nudd (Colchester) will need considerably more help from her friends.
 
In Friday night's 69-52 non-conference loss to Western New England University (2-1) at the Alumni Healthful Living Center,  the band of one in 5-foot-11 inch Nudd was no match against a balanced Golden Bear lineup that featured four double-digit scorers (who accounted for all but six of the team's points) who led their team to its sixth victory against Eastern in the last eight meetings.
 
Opening the season with its second game in three nights, Eastern came out like gang-busters, but fizzled soon after. After scoring the first seven points, the Warriors were outscored 20-9 the rest of the half, and after shooting 15.4 percent and committing six turnovers in the second quarter, trailed by a 14 (37-23) at the break, and never were able to re-gain that early traction.
 
For the second time in as many games this year, Nudd led the Warriors in points (26) and rebounds (9), scoring exactly half of the team's points and pulling down nearly one third of its rebounds.
 
Nudd's point total represented her second-highest total in her two-year career, following the 31 points she poured in in her Eastern debut a year and a day ago at Lasell University. Friday's game was her eighth of 20 or more points in the short career of Nudd, who twice recorded 24 points last year after her 31-point debut.
 
Sophomore guard Nevaeh King (Brockton, MA) knocked down three-point field goals on Eastern's first possessions of both the game and second half (the first two three-point tries of her career) but was limited to those six points, which were the most on the team behind Nudd.
 
Within striking distance after Nudd's inside hoop made it 44-34 midway through the third quarter, the Warriors allowed nine straight Western New England points. The Golden Bears turned to three different scorers to net those nine in a row. Freshman guard Lottia Barnes (15 points on 7-of-8 shooting) got it going with an inside bucket and jumper, senior guard Paige Winter (14 points/5-of-8) added another inside basket and senior guard Perry Blasetti (team-high 20 points/7-of-10) capped the spurt with a three-pointer that pushed the Golden Bear lead to 19, 53-45, with three minutes left in the quarter.
 
Senior center Hannah Blake (14 points/7-of-11) was WNE's fourth double-digit scorer.
 
The hosts shots 51.9 percent from the floor, with 21 of their points coming on three-point field goals and 21 coming off 16 Eastern turnovers. While Nudd converted 11 of 19 field goals, the rest of the team managed only 34.4 from the floor. Eastern shot 43.1 percent as a team from the floor and missed six of 11 free throws.
 
The game is the first of four straight on the road before the Warriors return to Geissler Gym to host Connecticut College in a non-conference game Nov. 25. Eastern plays eight of its first ten away from home before opening its Little East Conference season with a pair of home games Jan. 3 against the University of Massachusetts Boston and Jan. 6 against the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
 
The Warriors visit Salve Reginal University Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Seahawks (0-3) dropped a 79-75 decision to host Hamilton College in the first game of the Hamilton College Tournament Friday night and will meet St. John Fisher University Saturday in their second game of the tournament prior to hosting Eastern at the Rodgers Recreation Center. Eastern is 9-1 all-time against the Seahawks, coming off its first loss in the series a year ago at home, 75-49.