With the loss, Eastern (5-4) falls into the consolation bracket and will face Little East Conference foe Western Connecticut State University (6-3) Thursday at 5 p.m. ET. The winner of that game will be awarded third place in the eight-team tournament, the loser fifth place. Western was beaten by host Point Loma Nazarene University, 70-47 late Wednesday night.
Trailing by two, 15-13, Eastern was outscored 19-6 over the final six minutes of the first half as the Rangers (7-3) took a 15-point, 34-19 lead into the locker room. The lead never dipped below double figures in the second half.
Senior co-captains Jen Bergeron and Sarah McDonald led Eastern with 12 and 11 points, respectively, with freshman Bridget Durette grabbing a team-high ten rebounds. It marked the third time in the last four games that she has collected at least ten.
Sophomore guard Melissa Kraft of Drew led both teams with 17 points and ten rebounds, senior forward Melissa Coover adding 13 points and nine rebounds.
The loss snapped a three-game losing streak for Eastern, which had opened the tournament with a 66-53 win over Roger Williams University Tuesday.
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