Box Score DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Despite a second-half surge led by junior Megan Ronaghan (North Attleboro, Mass) the UMass Dartmouth women's basketball team's comeback fell short as Little East Conference foe Rhode Island College prevailed 69-64 on Wednesday evening at the Tripp Center.
The Corsairs fall to 14-8 on the year and 4-7 in conference play. With the victory, the Anchorwomen improve to 6-14 and 4-7 in Little East Conference action.
Ronaghan scored a team-high 16 points, all in the second half. Sophomore Alicia Kutil (Franklin, Mass.) recorded her second career double-double with 14 points and a game-high 11 boards. Senior Beth Castantini (Newburyport, Mass.) rounded out the Corsairs to eclipse double-figures. Sophomore Chelsea Houlihan (Wolcott, Conn.) filled the stat sheet, recording seven points, four rebounds, five assists, three steals and a block.
The Anchorwomen were led by junior Alex Moore (West Newbury, Mass.), who led all scorers with 29 points on the evening. Moore shot 50 percent from the floor while going five for nine from beyond the arc. Senior Devin Hill (Danielson, Conn.) posted 14 points as the only other player to registrar double digits for RIC.
The first quarter was back-and-forth before the Anchorwomen went on a 10-2 run, capped off by a traditional 3-point play by Moore at 3:29 to push the visitors' lead to eight. The Corsairs would answer right back with an 11-3 streak to go ahead in the early moments of the second quarter, as Castantini poured in seven of the 11 points. Rhode Island College chipped back to reclaim the lead at 9:02 and increase to a nine-point spread through the first 20 minutes of play.
Coming out of the break, the RIC shooters went cold. UMass Dartmouth would take advantage, outscoring the road team 14-6 in the third quarter. Eight points from Ronaghan would cut the Anchorwomen's maximum lead of 12 down to one with a 12-1 run entering the final quarter.
Rhode Island College would cash in on a 7-0 run to begin the final stanza and expand the lead to eight. Despite two last-ditch efforts by the Corsairs, including five Houlihan points in a matter of 30 seconds and six from Ronaghan in a little under a minute and a half, the Anchorwomen created a lead that was insurmountable. Castantini tied the game with 1:35 remaining to end a 7-0 run by UMass Dartmouth, but RIC posted a 5-0 run to close the contest and seize victory.
UMass Dartmouth will be back in action when they travel to LEC leader Eastern Connecticut on Saturday for a 1 p.m. tip. Rhode Island College will also make its last road trip of the regular season when they travel to Southern Maine at the same time.
