Box Score
DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Junior Megan Ronaghan (North Attleboro, Mass.) reached yet another career milestone on Monday evening, surpassing the 1,000-career point mark with 21 points in UMass Dartmouth women's basketball's 80-43 victory over Salem State at the Tripp Athletic Center.
Ronaghan needed only 20 points heading into the contest to reach 1,000, which she achieved with 3:29 remaining in the contest. She buried the first of two foul shots to meet the total, and converted the second to now own 1,001 points on her career thus far.
The former North Attleboro High School standout joins former teammates Erika Bornemann '14 and Kelsey Garrity '15 as the third Corsair in as many years to hit 1,000 and becomes the fifth player to do so since 2011.
The Corsairs, now 8-2 overall, led wire to wire on the evening, outmatching the Vikings across the score sheet. After falling behind 11-4 to open the game, Salem State's Malissa Saad (Worcester, Mass.) converted two consecutive layups to put the Vikings within three, their smallest deficit of the evening.
The Corsairs then extended the lead thanks to a 14-3 run, shooting 18-of-38 (47 percent) in the first half and holding Salem State to merely seven points in the second quarter. With 13 first-half points of 15 total on the night from sophomore Alicia Kutil (Franklin, Mass.), UMD took a comfortable 47-23 lead into the break.
With perfect free throw shooting and 14 points from Ronaghan, the second half featured much of the same as the Corsairs continued to slowly extend their lead. The fourth quarter put the contest entirely out of reach, with UMass Dartmouth securing seven points from the bench as every player to dress saw action.
Kia Fernandes (Wareham, Mass.) paced Salem State on the evening, totaling 14 points while grabbing seven rebounds, while junior Kaitlyn Bryan (Lowell, Mass.) posted a team-best 12 boards with seven points.
For the Corsairs, senior Beth Castantini (Newburyport, Mass.) finished with 10 points, while freshman Nakira Examond (New Bedford, Mass.) snatched 12 rebounds with eight points.
Sophomore Chelsea Houlihan (Wolcott, Conn.) contributed 10 rebounds and freshman Danyel Gonzalez (Providence, R.I.) dished out a game-high seven assists.
UMass Dartmouth returns to Little East Conference play on Saturday, as the Corsairs take to the road to meet Western Connecticut at 1 p.m.
