Box Score DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Junior Megan Ronaghan (North Attleboro, Mass.) turned in a 28-point, 17-rebound performance to lead UMass Dartmouth women's basketball to its third-straight Little East Conference victory on Saturday as the Corsairs defeated Southern Maine, 60-48.
With the win, the Corsairs secure the No. 5 seed for the Little East Conference Women's Basketball tournament, kicking off next Tuesday. UMass Dartmouth will meet Southern Maine, the No. 4 seed, yet again in the quarterfinal round.
Prior the contest, UMass Dartmouth recognized seniors Colleen Kane (Arlington, Mass.), Beth Castantini (Newburyport, Mass.) and Marisa McCabe (Cedar Grove, N.J.), all of whom posted quality minutes on the contest. Castantini finished with 11 points and 6 rebounds.
Southern Maine senior Megan Pelletier (Winslow, Maine) led the Huskies with 18 points and 13 boards, including 4-of-4 from the foul line. Classmate Ella Ramonas (Portland, Maine) posted 11 points as the other Husky in double-figures.
The first quarter was an exciting back-and-forth affair, with the Corsairs doubling up the Huskies' rebounds 14-7 as foreshadowing for an afternoon where UMass Dartmouth would out-rebound Southern Maine by 22.
Both teams entered a cold streak in the second quarter following a 7-0 Corsair run that put the hosts up by six, the largest lead of the game thus far. Spanning the next six minutes and remainder of the quarter, neither team converted a field goal. Ronaghan hit two free throws with 26 seconds on the clock for the last points of the stanza. UMass Dartmouth entered the break with a 26-18 lead.
The Huskies came out firing to start the second half, quickly erasing the lead and jumping ahead by two at 6:19 with foul shots from Pelletier. Ronaghan responded with three straight layups and a block over the next two minutes, putting the Corsairs back in front by six. Despite Southern Maine's 16 paint points in the third, the Corsairs held a 41-38 advantage at the start of the final 10 minutes.
With 4:40 remaining in the game, Castantini registered UMass Dartmouth's only 3-pointer of the contest to kick off a 10-4 run that UMass Dartmouth used to gradually up the lead and seal the win. Ronaghan scored 16 of her points in the final 20 minutes with half of her 10 offensive boards.
The Corsairs went 24-of-66 (36 percent) from the field on the game as Southern Maine shot 18-of-54 (33 percent). The difference came in second-chance points, with UMass Dartmouth registering 19 to Southern Maine's four on 21 offensive rebounds.
The second-straight matchup between the Huskies and Corsairs will tip off at 5:30 p.m. in Gorham, Maine on Tuesday evening. The winner will meet the victor between the matchup of No. 1 seed Eastern Connecticut and No. 8 seed Plymouth State.
