Box Score DARTMOUTH, Mass. – UMass Dartmouth's inside play once again held strong, outscoring Bridgewater State 44-22 in the paint and outrebounding the Bears 18-8 on the offensive end, withstanding a career-high 25 points by Sara DaSilva (Chelmsford, Mass.) and claiming a 65-56 victory. With the win, the Corsairs rise to 5-0 for the third-straight season.
The Basics
Score: UMass Dartmouth 65, Bridgewater State 56
Records: UMass Dartmouth (5-0) | Bridgewater State (2-2)
How it Happened
The lead was traded seven times over the course of the first quarter before UMass Dartmouth was able to gain a small foothold. Junior Rybecca Gonzalez (Providence, R.I.) had the hot hand to start the second quarter, scoring the Corsairs' first eight points of the stanza with two buckets from beyond the arc. Two layups in the final minute gave the hosts the largest lead of the game at eight points heading into the break.
A Leah Douty (Framingham, Mass.) 3-pointer put UMass Dartmouth up 13 and forced a Bridgewater State timeout less than a minute into the second half. The Corsairs' lead would hold throughout the remainder of the contest, but the Bears cut into the lead thanks to DaSilva's 15 second-half points. The sophomore went 8-of-10 from the foul line in the final 20 minutes, and converted a layup to lower Bridgewater State's deficit to just six with a minute and a half remaining. Corsair sophomore Nakira Examond (New Bedford, Mass.) battled for a layup at 1:12, and junior Chelsea Houlihan (Wolcott, Conn.) sunk a pair of foul shots with 18 ticks left to thwart the comeback.
Inside the Numbers
- Gonzalez scored all 10 of her points in the second quarter, going 4-of-6 from the field to achieve a new season-high and her highest scoring game since joining the Corsair roster.
- The post duo of Examond and junior Alicia Kutil (Franklin, Mass.) registered 15 points and nine rebounds apiece. Examond snagged four offensive boards and Kutil five, both more than doubling the offensive rebound total of any Bridgewater State player.
- DaSilva finished 7-of-14 from the field, bettering her previous career-high of 23 points from last season against Kean University on Jan. 3.
- UMass Dartmouth has now won two-straight against Bridgewater State after snapping a 10-game losing streak to the Bears last season. All-time, the Corsairs are 12-25 against the Bears.
- Despite the visitors outdoing the Corsairs with 20 points on turnovers, UMass Dartmouth gathered 20 second-chance points to Bridgewater State's four on the entirety of the game.
- The Corsairs jump out to a 5-0 start for just the sixth time in program history. UMass Dartmouth previously tied the program's best-ever start last season at 7-0 before falling in the first LEC contest against Keene State.
Up Next
The Corsairs continue their home stand on Thursday, hosting Westfield State for a 7 p.m. tip-off, while the Bears will make the trip to Northfield, Vt. to face Trinity (Conn.) in the opening round of the Ed Hockenbury Classic on Friday at 8 p.m.
