Box Score DANBURY, Conn. – Junior Beth Castantini (Newburyport, Mass.) scored 16 of her game-high 21 points in the second half to help the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth women's basketball team post a 79-65 Little East Conference victory at Western Connecticut State University this afternoon inside Feldman Arena.
The Corsairs captured their sixth consecutive contest to raise their overall record to 15-4, while the Colonials suffered their second straight setback to fall to 11-7.
Castantini led four UMass Dartmouth players in double digits in scoring with her second 20-point performance of the season. She was 6-of-13 from the field with three triples and 6-of-8 from the foul line. Senior Kelsey Garrity (Somerville, Mass.) reached double figures for the third consecutive contest with 16 points. Sophomore Bri Hochwarter (Attleboro, Mass.) tallied all 15 of her points from behind the three-point arc, and classmate Rachel McCarron (Groton, Mass.) produced 10 points, on 5-for-7 from the floor, to account for all 25 of the Corsairs' bench points. Senior Erin Fahey (Salem, Mass.) pulled in a game-high 12 rebounds to help the visitors hold a 37-28 advantage on the glass, while handing out a season-high eight assists.
UMass Dartmouth shot 46.4 percent (26-for-56) from the field, including 51.9 percent (14-for-27) in the second half. The visitors were white-hot from downtown in the second stanza (62.5 percent, 5-for-8), raising their three-point percentage to 57.9 for the game.
Senior Caroline Brasa (East Hartford, Conn.) nearly posted a double-double with 18 points and nine rebounds to lead Western Connecticut. Sophomore Colleen Cosker (East Hartford, Conn.) scored 11 points, while Kaitlyn LaBonte (South Windsor, Conn.) and classmate Samantha Smith (Wallingford, Conn.) combined for 20 points to round out the Colonials contingent in double figures.
The Corsairs opened the second half with a decisive 23-4 run to turn a one-point halftime lead into a game-high 20-point advantage (56-36). Castantini fueled the surge with seven points, while Hochwarter closed the run with back-to-back three-pointers.
Western Connecticut pushed back with the next 11 points, including seven by Brasa, to whittle its deficit to 56-47 with 11:23 remaining in regulation.
The see-saw stanza continued as freshman Alicia Kutil (Franklin, Mass.) ended the visitors' five-minute scoring drought with a jumper to stem the tide. Castantini scored seven of UMass Dartmouth's next eight points, while Garrity added a pair of makes from the charity stripe to complete a 10-2 run and extend the visitors' advantage to 69-51.
The Colonials were able to trim their deficit to 10 points (71-61), but that would be as close as the hosts would get. The Corsairs never let their lead dip below double digits over the final four minutes to seal their fifth consectutive conference win.
UMass Dartmouth will return to action at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 3, when the Corsairs travel to Salem State University.
