Box Score CASTLETON, Vt. -- Senior Ashley Brown (New Bedford, Mass.) notched a double-double effort of 14 points, 10 rebounds and five assists to lead UMass Dartmouth to a 68-54 Little East Conference women's basketball victory over Castleton Saturday afternoon at Glenbrook Gym.
The visiting Corsairs (10-8, 5-4 LEC) saw the host Spartans (10-8, 5-4 LEC) jump out to a quick 7-0 lead before extending that margin to 10 points (23-13) early in the second quarter, but UMass Dartmouth used a 16-5 run over a seven minute stretch to grab a 29-28 edge on freshman Jennifer Driscoll's (Westport, Mass.) free throw with 2:09 remaining in the half. Castleton took its final lead of the day on a pair of free throws from junior Brooke Raiche (Ira, Vt.) with 42 ticks left until the break, but a Driscoll three-pointer on the ensuing possession gave the visitors a 33-32 halftime cushion that they never relinquished.
The Corsairs built an eight-point third quarter lead that Raiche cut to three on a three-pointer midway through the stanza, but UMass Dartmouth responded with eight straight points to take a 50-42 advantage into the final 10 minutes of action. The Spartans got to within eight (60-52) on a conventional three-point play by freshman Elise Magro (Rutland, Vt.) with 1:49 to play, but the visitors received six free throws from Brown and a lay-in from sophomore Jordan Moretti (Johnston, R.I.) in the closing 76 seconds of action to ice their triumph.
Junior Lauren Empey (Middleboro, Mass.) and sophomore Shaelyn Carreiro (Fall River, Mass.) each scored 10 points and combined for nine rebounds in the win for the Corsairs, who received eight points, six boards, four steals and three assists from Moretti. Senior Kayla McMahon (Hanover, Mass.) and sophomore Sabrina Armstrong (Washington, N.J.) each added seven points and three caroms for UMass Dartmouth, which shot 41 percent (24-58) from the field and connected for seven three-pointers while holding a 41-40 rebounding edge for the contest.
Raiche collected 14 points, eight rebounds and three assists in the setback for Castleton, which received 12 points from Nagro along with nine points from freshman Jillian Laughlin (Jericho, Vt.). Senior Katlyn Toomey (North Adams, Mass.) grabbed 14 boards for the Spartans, who shot 32 percent (20-62) from the floor but hurt themselves with 24 turnovers in dropping both regular season meetings with the visitors this winter.
UMass Dartmouth hosts Rhode Island College in a Little East Conference clash on Wednesday evening at the Tripp Athletic Center that tips-off at 5:30 pm, while Castleton travels to Keene, N.H. for a Little East matchup with Keene State on Wednesday evening that also tips-off at 5:30 pm.
