DANBURY, Conn.  –  Junior guard Nicole Vivian (28 points) and graduate forward Katelyn Fanning (18 points) combined for 46 points on Tuesday night for WestConn as UMass Boston Women's Basketball dropped their second conference to start Little East play, 65-54, against WestConn.

THE BASICS

UMass Boston 54, WestConn 65

UMass Boston (6-4, 0-2 LEC)

WestConn (5-1, 2-0 LEC)

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Wolves would attack early against UMass Boston, running out of the gate as Vivian scored five points and Katelyn Fanning scored four points to jump out to a 9-3 lead early in the first quarter. A pair of threes from freshman guard Jules Vassallo and three points from freshman guard Tatiannah Fevry amidst more scoring from Fanning, who finished the quarter with 10 points, found the Beacons trailing 15-12.

UMass Boston would trail by as many as nine points in the second quarter as Fanning and Vivian continued to lead the way for the Wolves. But the Beacon offense would come to life as graduate forward Meg Dixon went on a 6-0 run on her own to cut the deficit down to three, 21-18. A three from sophomore guard Sunny Green and two free throws from Vassallo helped UMass Boston pull even for the first time in the game at 23. With less than 10 seconds in the half, a steal and score from Fevry would send the Beacons into the locker room with their first lead of the game, 27-25.

Senior guard Keriann Farina would open up the second half with a solo 3-0 run to extend UMass Boston's lead to five, 30-25. After another basket from Fanning, freshman guard Sibayla Jensen gave the Beacons their largest lead of the game with back-to-back baskets at seven points, 34-27. But the Wolves would mount a response, going on a 7-0 run with four straight points from Vivian along with a converted and one opportunity from freshman guard Malaysia Dingle to tie the game back up.

Closing out the third, WestConn would retake control of the contest, utilizing a 10-2 run with Vivian once again leading the way for the Wolves to take an eight-point advantage and end up carrying a six-point lead, 46-40, into the final 10 minutes of play.

A combined six points from Fanning and Vivian would give WestConn their largest lead of the game at 12 points, 52-40, with 8:11 left in the fourth. But like against Emerson College, the Beacon offense would claw their way back into the game, going on a 9-0 run spurred by five points from Green to pull within three, 52-49, with 4:21 remaining in regulation.

Trailing by five points after a Vivian layup with 4:04 to go, the UMass Boston shooting would go cold down the stretch, going 2-for-8 and 0-for-2 from three-point range over the final four minutes of the game. Vivian would score the next six points for the Wolves who went on an 13-5 run to end the game and hand the Beacons their second conference loss of the season, 65-54, on the road.
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Meg Dixon led UMass Boston with 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting while going 3-for-3 from the free throw line and corralling seven rebounds
• Nicole Vivian scored a team-high 28 points on 10-of-15 shooting and went 8-of-11 from the free throw line for WestConn
• Junior transfer forward Alexah Potter fell just shy of a double-double, scoring nine points, grabbing 10 boards, and adding four first half blocks to her total
• UMass Boston was outrebounded 47-32, including 16-9 on the offensive boards

WHO'S NEXT
After playing three games in five days, UMass Boston will have three days off to prepare for a road matchup against Worcester Polytechnic Institute on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 PM. The two teams met last season at the Clark Athletic Center where the Beacons dropped the game 62-56, their first loss in the all-time series. UMass Boston is 3-0 all-time versus WPI on the road and at neutral sites.