Box Score
NEWPORT, R.I. – It was a tale of two halves for the Eastern Connecticut State University women's basketball team as the Warriors watched an eight-point halftime lead dissolve during a disastrous third quarter as Salve Regina University rallied from 13 points back early in the second half to post a 60-50 non-conference victory Tuesday night at Rodgers Recreation Center.
 
Leading by 13, 33-20, Eastern (0-3) was outscored 21-4 over the final eight minutes of the third quarter – going the final six minutes without a point – in losing for the second straight season to Salve (2-3) after taking the first nine games in the series.
 
Eastern  was 4-for-15 with three turnovers in the third quarter when it was outscored 23-11, and, in all, was outscored by nearly 2-to-1 (42-24) in the second half.  Six-foot-one inch all-conference senior Sofia Neary gave the Seahawks their first tie, 37-37 with an inside basket with three minutes left in the third quarter and 5-foot-11 inch freshman Frankie Spadorcia gave the hosts the lead for good less than 30 seconds later. Salve featured eight roster players standing 5-foot-10 or taller.
 
Salve (1-4) shot only 18.2 percent from the floor and managed only six field goals in the first half  and trailed Eastern by eight at the break, 26-18. The Warriors held Salve to single digits in each of the first two quarter and led throughout the half after junior forward Marissa Nudd (Colchester) opening the game with her first of four three-point field goals.
 
The Warriors outscored Salve 18-0 from three-point range in the first half when they were 6-for-18 but were just 2-for-13 from distance in the second half. In the second half, Eastern shot just 29.4 percent overall from the floor while the Seahawks turned around their 18.2 field goal effort over the first 20 minutes by sinking 16-of-31 (51.6 percent). The hosts scored half of their game points in the paint.
 
Although the bottom fell out in the  third quarter, Eastern trailed by only four heading into the final quarter but Salve used an opening 8-2 run over the first two minutes to push its lead to double figures, 49-39. Eastern got as close as six points twice thereafter on Nudd's three-point off Leccesse's pass with five minutes left in the game and again on first-year guard Maddie Topa's (New Hartford) inside basket off a defensive rebound by Nudd (it was Topa's three-pont field goal two minutes into the third quarter that had lifted Eastern into its 13-point, 33-20 lead) with 1:31 remaining.
 
Trailing by that six-point margin after Topa's bucket with 1:31 left, Eastern had a chance to make it a one-possession game on Paquette's final block of the game with 65 seconds left, the the team missed a three-pointer and Salve clinched the win by connecting on four free throws over the final 36 seconds.
 
Nudd (team-high 18 points) and sophomore guard Liv Cassesse (Wallingford) (11) combined for  29 of the team's points but the Warriors got only seven points from their other three starters.  In 23 minutes off the bench, six-foot junior Alyssa Paquette (Claremont, NH) contributed nine points and four rebounds, and was credited with five of the team's nine blocked shots. Nudd grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds to record her first double-double of the season, Cassesse adding eight rebounds, four assists and three steals in 37 minutes.
 
Eastern was outscored by the final ten-point margin at the foul line. Eastern was 4-for-6, Salve 14-for-23.
 
Neary, who had 14 points (6-of-9 FG) in Salve's 75-49 win over Eastern a year ago, led all players with 21 points (8-for-18 FG) and 13 rebounds.
 
Last year in the first meeting between the programs in 17 years on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, the Seahawks defeated Eastern for the first time after losing the first nine games in the series. Eastern was outscored, 42-19 in the second half after the teams played to a three-point differential in the first half.
 
In that game, the Seahawks scored the first eight points of the third quarter and limited the Warriors to seven fourth-quarter points and 39.2 percent shooting from the floor (including 0-for-11 from distance). First-team All-Little East Conference forward Taylor Salato had 18 points and a game-high eight rebounds to lead Eastern while current junior forward Marissa Nudd (Colchester) added 15 points and seven rebounds in helping the Warriors to a +13 advantage on the boards.  Three Eastern starters were limited to nine total points in that game.
 
At 5-foot-4 inches, Salve graduate guard Amanda Folan led all players with 25 points, sinking half of her 18 field goals and half of her six three-pointers. She was also 4-for-5 from the stripe.
 
The Seahawks went on to a 15-11 record, losing by 42 points in their conference semifinals at Smith College, the unbeaten conference regular-season champion which finished 31-3. The Pioneers five NCAA games before losing to No. 1 NYU (31-0), 77-49, in the national title game at Salem, VA.
 
Up Next:
The Warriors compete at the Oneonta & Hartwick Classic Friday and Saturday at Dewar Arena on the SUNY Oneonta campus. Eastern meets SUNY Oneonta (1-1) Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Hartwick College (1-2 prior to facing Hamilton College Friday at 5:30 p.m.) Saturday at 2 p.m. Oneonta was 11-15 and was eliminated in the first round of the SUNYAC Tournament, 59-54, at Oswego State; Hartwick was 6-18 last year, ending the season on a four-game losing streak.
 
Eastern has met Oneonta and Hartwick one time each. Eastern posted an 81-59 victory over Oneonta to win the EAIAW Small College Tournament at Fairfield University and advance to the AIAW Small College National Tournament at Cal Poly Pomona. Against Hartwick in 2013-14, the Warriors were beaten, 65-46, in the championship game of the Eastern Tip-Off Tournament at Geissler Gymnasium. Eastern went on to an 18-9 record that year while Hartwick won 22 of 28 games, reaching the second round of the NCAA tournament before losing at home to No. 11 Amherst College, 82-61.