The UMass Boston women’s basketball team looked to improve their Little East Conference tournament seeding against the Warriors of Eastern Connecticut State College on February 9, but came up well short against the 16th ranked NCAA Division III team in the nation, 85-61. The Beacons drop to a record of 11-9 overall and 5-5 in LEC play.

The Beacons have had virtually no success against the perennial basketball power from the Nutmeg State, having lost a total of twenty consecutive times. ECSU, on the other hand, is fighting it out down the stretch with Southern Maine for the LEC top seed. Both ECSU and USM have current conference record that stand at 9-1 as of press time.

Although the Beacons had a week off since their last game, a 77-52 victory over Rhode Island College, the Beacons were almost out of it from the start as the Warriors had a 26-0 run in the first half. ECSU completely dominated the boards, holding a 58-37 advantage over a good rebounding Beacon team. Although UMB trimmed the lead to 21 at halftime, ECSU kept enough sustained pressure to maintain the margin.

The Beacons were led in scoring by Andreen Gilpin’s 13 points. Uncharacteristically, the rebounding machine (15.0 per game) came away with only three boards in the entire contest. Guards Kristen Bowes and Indya Mitchell contributed with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Normally consistent scorers Felicia Haynes and Jamila Gales had disappointing outputs of six points apiece.

The women’s basketball team has now lost five out of their last six games. The Beacons will have played UMass Dartmouth by the time this issue hits the stands. UMB previously beat their sister campus, 60-46, down in Dartmouth on January 21.

The Beacons will next play on Thursday, February 13 at 6pm against Framingham State, to whom the team lost the championship game of the UMB Tip-off Tournament. The Beacons will play their last home game of the regular season on Saturday, February 15, against Plymouth State College.