Eastern Connecticut State University

NEWTON, Mass. -- A year ago, entering the fourth quarter of the season opener against Lasell University, Eastern Connecticut State University Women's Basketball found itself trailing the Lasers by 13 points at home. 359 days later, the roles were reversed as a wire-to-wire victory for the Warriors on the road saw them nearly break 100 points for the first time since January 24th, 2018, downing Lasell, 95-72, in Friday night's road matchup.

Little East Conference First Teamer and senior forward Marissa Nudd picked up right where she left off last year for Eastern, dropping 27 points to lead five double-digit scorers for the road victors, on 10-for-19 shooting with a 6-for-7 performance from the free-throw line and seven rebounds.

Tailing right behind her was sophomore guard Maddie Topa, tacking on 20 points of her own in 27 minutes as a starter on 7-for-13 shooting, making 6-of-9 free throws. As a team, Eastern shot 20-for-28 (71.4%) from the charity stripe in an affair where they jumped out to a 9-2 lead right off the bat in the opening three minutes and change.

The remaining trio of double-digit point scorers for the Warriors consisted of junior guard Liv Cassesse and her 15 points (4-for-6 from three), junior guard Neveah King's 15 points (4-for-7) off the bench, and junior forward Morgan Yonush's 10 points (4-for-5) in 19 minutes as a starter. 

Across the board as a team, Eastern's shooting was nearly impossible to stop, going a combined 34-for-64 (53.1%) from the floor and 7-for-20 (35%) from three. In all four quarters, the Warriors shot over 50% from the field and at least 40% from three in two of the four quarters of action. 

While four players finished in double figures for the Lasers, led by 21 points (9-for-19) by junior guard Abigail Duclos, Lasell could not recover from their 2-for-17 (11.7%) start as a team from the field. Although they would bounce back in the second to shoot 52.9% overall (9-for-17), it would only be enough to make up two points on the Warriors, drawing their deficit down to 10 points at halftime, 41-31, after trailing 20-8 after one.

A brief 7-0 run by the Lasers in the early stages of the third threatened the Eastern lead, making it 45-40 with 6:48 remaining following a basket from senior guard Blaize Mack, who had a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double. However, a timeout by Head Coach Mandy King would quickly turn the tide back in favor of the Warriors, who slowly rebuilt their lead to 17 points, 70-53, by the end of the third. Eastern would cruise to their 23-point victory, 95-72.

Kicking off the first of two home games next week for the 2026-27 season, Eastern will prepare for Salve Regina University next Wednesday at 7:00 PM in the Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium. After winning the first eight meetings against the Seahawks from 1982-2008, the renewal of the rivalry during the 2024-25 season has seen the Warriors drop the last two matchups, including last year on the road, 60-50.