BOSTON, Mass.—Little East Conference preseason favorite Eastern Connecticut State University (8-5, 2-1 Little East) used a 47-32 rebounding advantage to slip by UMass Boston women's basketball (7-5, 1-2 Little East) 63-59 Saturday afternoon at the Clark Athletic Center Gymnasium.

Jill Ritrosky and Julia DePoi each recorded double-doubles for the Warriors, to help Eastern Connecticut State escape Boston in a game that featured 10 ties and seven lead changes. Ritrosky finished with a game-high 22 points and 12 rebounds, while DePoi ended the day with 17 points, including five 3-pointers, and 10 rebounds.

The Beacons were led by Olivia Murphy's (Canton, Mass.) sixth double-double of the season, as the junior finished with 14 points and 15 rebounds.

Kirsten Morrison (North Reading, Mass.) added 14 points and seven boards for the Beacons, while freshman Katie Mathieu (Coventry, Conn.) tied her career-high with 14 points. Mathieu recorded 14 points in her collegiate debut on 18 shots, but had been cold since then. Saturday she knocked 5-of-7 shots, including 4-of-6 3-pointers, to keep the Beacons within striking distance all afternoon long.

Freshman guard Grace Geary (Falmouth, Mass.) was the fourth Beacon in double-figures with 13 points, three rebounds, three assists and a career-high six steals. 

After the Beacons led throughout much of the first half, the Warriors took control of the game in the second stanza, with the Beacons owning just two leads for a combined 32 seconds.

Eastern Connecticut State shot 42.6 percent (26-of-61) from the field and 35.7 percent (5-of-14) from distance. On the other side, the Beacons knocked down 23-of-60 (38.3 percent) of their shots and 4-of-11 (36.4) three-pointers.

The Beacons managed to stick with the Warriors throughout the game by forcing 19 Warriors turnovers (19-13) and earning a 34-20 advantage in points in the paint. 

After UMass Boston took an early 2-0 lead, Eastern Connecticut State responded right back with an 8-0 run behind back-to-back 3-pointers from DePoi. The Beacons would fight their way back into the game midway through the half when they went on a 10-0 run of their own. Mathieu drained a pair of 3-pointers of her own, and Geary and Taje Burston (Springfield, Mass.) both picked up two points during the flurry that gave the Beacons a 16-12 advantage.

UMass Boston would stretch the lead out to 24-18, but an 8-2 Warriors flurry sent the game into the break at 26-26.

Coming out of the break, Ritrosky started to heat up, as she scored six of her 14 second-half points in the opening five minutes to give the Warriors a 38-32 edge.

The Beacons answered right back though, as the Beacons used an 8-1 run capped by a Mathieu 3-pointer to take their first lead of the half at 40-39 with 11:23 to play.

After six straight ties between 44-44 and 52-52, Eastern Connecticut State tried to pull away for good with a 7-1 run. Ritrosky sandwiched a Depoi 3-pointer with a pair of jumpers, around a DePoi three, to give the Warriors a 59-53 lead with 2:30 to go in regulation.

UMass Boston responded with back-to-back scores from Geary and Morrison, but that would be as close as the Beacons would get, as senior Shannon McCourt knocked down a key jumper and Kristina Forsman knocked down two free throws to ice the game with 11 seconds to play.

The Beacons will return to action Tuesday night when they travel to Plymouth State University at 5:30 p.m. Eastern Connecticut State will host conference unbeaten UMass Dartmouth at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday night.