Box Score WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – Facing a 12-point deficit at the end of the third quarter, the UMass Dartmouth women's basketball team battled back to outscore Eastern Connecticut 22-10 in the final stanza, eventually downing the Little East Conference leader in overtime by a 72-65 score.
In extra minutes, the Corsairs used a 10-1 stretch to capture their first lead since the first quarter and hit all six of their shots from the foul line to seal the comeback win.
Sophomore Chelsea Houlihan (Wolcott, Conn.) notched a career-high 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting, while freshman Nakira Examond (New Bedford, Mass.) collected her fourth career double-double with 12 points and a team high 10 rebounds.
Junior Megan Ronaghan (North Attleboro, Mass.) put in a game-high 20 points while grabbing eight rebounds and a team-high three steals on the afternoon. Senior Beth Castantini (Newburyport, Mass.) rounded out the Corsairs in double figures with 11 to cap the total team effort.
Junior Jordyn Nappi (Southington, Conn.) paced the Warriors offense with a team-high 19 points. Classmate Jill Ritrosky (Pittsfield, Mass.) contributed 15 points while adding six rebounds and two blocks. Junior Julia DePoi (Brookfield, Conn.) was the final Warrior to register in double-digits with 10 points while chipping in 11 boards.
The first quarter went back and forth, until the Warriors began to pull away with a 9-0 run to end the period and carry over into the next. The Corsairs would slowly claw their way back, cutting the deficit to three with a jump shot made by Houlihan with 2:25 remaining before halftime, but the Warriors would hit one more free throw to go into the break with a 29-25 lead.
In the third quarter, Eastern Connecticut would hit its stride, outscoring the Corsairs 21-13 in the period to increase the lead to 12. Fourteen of the Warriors' points in the stanza came from the trio of Nappi, Ritrosky and DePoi.
The Corsairs would then flip a switch over the final 10 minutes of play and steal back control. Unanswered jumpers by Houlihan, Examond and Ronaghan cut the Warrior lead to only six with 4:33 remaining. Following a layup and foul shot from Ritrosky, Ronaghan hit another jump shot, and the Corsairs forced a turnover on the ensuing Warrior possession. Castantini then converted on two traditional 3-point plays within the final two minutes to whittle down the margin to three with 1:37 to play in regulation.
Ritrosky buried both of her free throws with 1:07 remaining to increase the ESCU lead to five, but Ronaghan answered back quickly with four points of her own. Eastern Connecticut senior Danyelle Rodriguez (Willimantic, Conn.) made the second of her two free throws to pull the Warriors ahead by two with 14 seconds remaining, but a huge offensive rebound and put-back layup from Examond with five seconds left was enough to force overtime.
UMass Dartmouth rode the momentum in the final five minutes, collecting defensive boards while converting on 3-of-4 smart shot opportunities to outscore the Warriors 12-5 and clinch the win.
The Corsairs improve to 15-8 on the year 5-7 in Little East Conference action. The Warriors fall to 17-6 on the campaign and drop to 9-3 in conference play heading into the final week of the regular season.
The Corsairs will take to the road again as they travel to UMass Boston for a 5:30 p.m. tip on Wednesday.
