NORTON, Mass. -- Sophomore guard Madeline Duwe (Greenville, S.C.) came off the bench to pour in a career-high 25 points and lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) women's basketball team to a 75-45 rout of visiting Eastern Connecticut State University this afternoon at Emerson Gymnasium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.

The Lyons win their fourth straight game to improve to 8-6 on the season, while holding an opponent to under 50 points for the fourth consecutive outing. The Warriors fall to 4-9.

Wheaton knocked down nine first half three-pointers to take a 49-23 lead at the intermission and never looked back. The Lyons shot 58.6% (17-29) in the opening stanza, including 9-15 from three-point range for a 60% rate over the first two quarters. Wheaton finished the afternoon hitting 43.1% (28-65) of its shots, including a season-high 10 three-pointers, while holding Eastern Connecticut to just 30.9% (17-55) from the floor and 22.2% (2-9) from long range. The Lyons controlled the boards with a 46-31 advantage and used an aggressive style of play to claim a 21-7 margin in points off turnovers. Wheaton led for all but seven seconds for the entirety of the game.

Duwe scored 18 points of her personal-best scoring output in the first half and was 9-13 from the field for the game for Wheaton, including 5-8 from three-point territory and added five rebounds and an assist in just 17 minutes of play. Sophomore guard Kiki Walters (Fleetwood, Pa.) was nearly as productive, netting 19 points on 7-13 shooting, including a trio of trifectas to go with five rebounds, four assists and four steals. Sophomore forward Nasha Arnold (North Reading, Mass.) contributed with a game-high eight rebounds and added six points, an assist, a steal and a blocked shot. 

Senior guard Cara McGettigan (Southbury, Conn.) led the Warriors with 15 points in addition to four rebounds and an assist, while junior forward Taylor Salato (East Haven, Conn.) chipped in with 10 points and six rebounds.

The Lyons held Eastern Connecticut scoreless for nearly the first three minutes of the game, while scoring the first six points as part of an 11-2 run to open the contest. Walters fueled the stretch with seven points. Salato made a driving layup at the 5:28 mark for the Warriors, but it just interrupted Wheaton's offense, which put together a 10-4 string to increase its cushion to 21-8 with 2:33 to play in the opening period. Duwe and Walters each scored five points during the run. 

First year guard Tatum Young (Forsyth, Ill.) drilled a three-ball with 49 ticks left on the clock to give the home team its biggest lead of the quarter at 26-12, before the Warriors tallied the final four points of the period to cut the deficit to 26-16.

First year guard Julia Knowles (Waterford, Conn.) stuck a triple just 35 seconds into the second quarter to pull the visitors to within 26-19, but it was as close as the Warriors would get for the remainder of the contest. The Lyons effectively put the game out of reach when Duwe torched Eastern Connecticut for 11 points during a 20-2 outburst to extend Wheaton's advantage to 49-21 with 34 seconds left on the first half clock. Knowles scored the final points of the half for the Warriors with a jumper outside the paint to make it 49-23 at the intermission. 

Eastern Connecticut scored eight of the first 10 points of the third quarter, including six from junior guard Elayna Comella (Warwick, R.I.), to cut the deficit to 51-31 with 7:21 left in the period. The Warriors scored just four points of the rest of the quarter and the Lyons put together a 17-3 stretch, paced by six points each from Walters and junior guard Abby Fernandes (Assonet, Mass.), to take a commanding 68-34 advantage with 18 seconds remaining before the final quarter of play.

First year forward Cheyenne Colbert (Brookline, N.H.) gave Wheaton its largest lead of the day at 70-35 with a layup at the 6:40 mark of the fourth quarter. Eastern Connecticut State scored the next five points to close within 70-40 at 5:27, but the outcome was well within hand for the Lyons.

Wheaton returns to the court on Saturday, January 13 when it heads to New London, Conn. to open the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference slate against United States Coast Guard Academy at 1:00 p.m., while the Warriors travel to Keene, N.H. to take on Little East Conference foe Keene State College on January 9 at 4:00 p.m.