MONTICELLO, Ark. - The East Central University women's basketball team enjoyed a successful Arkansas road trip, claiming its fourth straight win with a dominant 65-48 victory over the University of Arkansas Monticello inside Steelman Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Great American Conference win improves ECU to 7-8 in league play, while UAM suffered its 13th conference loss to fall to 1-13. The Tigers will travel to Durant to face their rivals on Thursday, Feb. 16. As they look ahead to the matchup against Southeastern, ECU now sits tied for fifth place in the GAC standings and will look to climb above .500 in conference play.
 
The Blossoms jumped out early, opening the game on a 7-3 run to hand the Tigers an early deficit. Katie Edelen scored ECU's first seven points to tie the game, and after a layup from Natalie Milwood and a three-pointer from Jayden Weiberg, the Tigers took a 12-10 lead with 3:37 left in the first quarter. From there, ECU held the advantage for the remainder of the contest.
 
Both teams struggled to find an offensive rhythm early in the second quarter, but the Tigers gradually picked up the pace. A layup from Claira Dannefer jump-started the scoring, and continued pressure from Edelen, Milwood, and Eva Fernandez pushed ECU to a double-digit lead. A free throw from Milwood gave the Tigers their largest lead of the half at 14 points with under two minutes remaining. ECU's defense remained steady, holding the Blossoms to just 25 first-half points as the Tigers carried a 38-25 lead into halftime.
 
ECU stayed hot in the third quarter, stretching the lead to as many as 18 points following a three from Rylie Burnett and free throws from Fernandez. UAM attempted to chip away, posting its highest-scoring quarter with 16 points, but Burnett led the way for ECU by scoring 15 of the Tigers' 19 points in the frame. ECU entered the final quarter ahead 57-41.
 
Both teams produced their lowest-scoring quarter in the fourth, but the Tigers proved too much for the Blossoms to overcome, cruising to the 65-48 victory.
 
ECU led UAM in every major statistical category, outshooting the Blossoms 45% to 37%, outrebounding them 36-28, and holding a commanding edge in points in the paint, 38-18.
 
The Tigers were led offensively by Katie Edelen, who finished with a team-high 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting while grabbing seven rebounds. Rylie Burnett added 17 points, knocking down two three-pointers and going a perfect 5-for-5 from the free-throw line. Makenzy Herman made her presence felt on the glass with seven rebounds, while Eva Fernandez contributed eight points and four rebounds and Claira Dannefer chipped in six points and four boards off the bench.