Box Score WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – Led by Jill Ritrosky and Erin Brooks double-doubles, Eastern Connecticut State University defeated women's basketball by the final of 64-53 in a Little East Conference contest Saturday afternoon at Geissler Gymnasium.
THE BASICS
UMass Boston 53, Eastern Connecticut State University 64
UMass Boston (9-6, 2-3 Little East Conference)
Eastern Conn. State University (10-4, 4-1 Little East Conference)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Other than an early lead in the first quarter, the host Warriors controlled the scoreboard throughout the afternoon. Ritrosky led the contest with a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds, while Brooks finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Off the bench, Lexis Foster dropped in 11 points, and also had nine boards, and three of the Warriors seven blocks.
For the Beacons, they saw Raven Kelsey (Boston, Mass.) led the way with a game-high 16 points, as she finished the conference loss 6-for-14 from the floor, which included a pair of 3-pointers. Grace Geary (Falmouth, Mass.) was also solid for the Beacons as she dropped in 13 points, to go along with five assists and three steals.
After going into the halftime break trailing by nine, the Beacons cut the deficit to eight on their first possession of the third as Katrina Edwards (Springfield, Mass.) drained an early jumper. The Beacons would keep the Warriors close early on, and made perhaps their biggest push with less than five to play when they made it a two possession game (42-37) with 3:02 left.
Olivia Murphy (Canton, Mass.) sparked the quick surge as the Beacons scored six straight points, which was capped-off by a Katie Mathieu (Coventry, Conn.) 3-pointer. Unfortunately, the Warriors would come right back as they scored five straight to retake a 10 point lead in the final minute of the third.
The fourth was all ECSU as the Beacons could not get any consistent offense going through the final 10 minutes of regulation.
From the field the Beacons shot just 29.7% (19-64), while the Warriors shot 37.3% (25-67). ECSU also held a slim 45-44 advantage on the glass.
BY THE NUMBERS
- All-time the Warriors improve to 60-9 against the Beacons with Saturday's win
- Murphy finished the loss with seven points, which moved her into 3rd all-time in scoring as she passed Andreen Gilpin '03 who had 1,380 career points
- Saturday's game was a rematch of last year's conference tournament game which ECSU won 64-62 in overtime
WHO'S NEXT
The Beacons will host the University of Southern Maine on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
