WILLIMANTIC, Conn. - The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth women's basketball team led 39-33 in the beginning of the fourth, but Eastern Connecticut outscored UMassD, 27-13, in the final 10 minutes, to hand the Corsairs a 60-50 loss in its Little East Conference (LEC) opener Wednesday night.
UMass Dartmouth drops to 6-4 and 0-1 in the LEC, while the Warriors, who were playing in their second league game, improve to 5-4 and 2-0 in the conference.
Junior
Haley Reinold led the road team with 12 points, five rebounds and two blocks, while sophomore
Teja Andrews was also in double figures with 11 points and added four boards. Senior
Jordan Moretti chipped in eight points.
Senior Julie Keckler led East Conn with 24 points, seven rebounds, six assists and six steals, while classmate Anna Barry finished with 14 points, six boards and five blocked shots.
East Conn jumped ahead to a 10-2 lead, until a layup from Reinold and a 3-pointer by 5th-year senior
Meagan Donovan cut it to a 10-7 deficit with 4:12 on the clock in the first. After a Warrior basket, Moretti and Andrews each scored in the paint to finish the quarter trailing, 14-11.
The Corsairs opened the second on a 12-0 run with a pair of triples by Andrews and senior
Jessica Carroll to make it 16 consecutive UMassD points going back to the end of the first, to take a 23-14 advantage with 4:39 on the clock. East Conn then scored eight straight points until Reinold sunk a 3-ball to end the half with UMassD ahead, 26-22.
Senior
Caroline Wilson started the third with a three, and Carroll kept it going with a bucket inside to make it a 31-24 Corsair lead with 8:52 on the clock. The teams went blow-for-blow in the remainder of the quarter as Andrews scored four straight points. East Conn's Keckler finished the third with a basket and a free throw as UMass Dartmouth led 37-33 heading to the fourth.
Moretti hit two at the line to extend the lead to 39-33, but that was when the Warriors took over. East Conn went on a 17-4 run to go up, 50-43, with 2:53 to go. A three by Reinold and a layup from Donovan kept it a four-point deficit with a minute to go, but East Conn closed the game on an 8-2 run to put it out of reach.
UMass Dartmouth is off until Wednesday, Jan. 4 at 4 p.m. when it travels to Keene State to get its revenge against the team that knocked them out of the LEC Tournament last season.
