WORCESTER, Mass. -Â Trailing by 12 points early in the fourth quarter, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth women's basketball team closed the game on a 31-8 run, to take the lead and secure its season opening victory at Clark, 64-55, Tuesday night.
Sophomore
Teja Andrews led the Corsairs (1-0) with 23 points, seven rebounds and three assists in 31 minutes off the bench, while senior
Jordan Moretti was the only other member of the team in double figures with 11 points, adding five boards and three assists. 5th-year senior
Meagan Donovan and seniors
Jessica Carroll and
Caroline Wilson all finished with seven points, while Carroll pulled down five rebounds.
For the Cougars (1-2), graduate student Hannah Favaloro tallied a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
It was a first quarter to forget for UMass Dartmouth. Clark surged ahead to a 12-2 lead over the first four minutes. A layup from sophomore
Jemima Joseph and an and-1 from Andrews cut the deficit to 15-7 at the end of one.
Andrews put together the first five points of the second to spark the Corsairs' offense. Junior
Haley Reinold, Wilson and Moretti all scored in the paint before Andrews had a steal and breakaway layup to make it a 21-20 game with 2:00 to go until halftime. The Cougars maintained their slim lead with three straight points to keep them on top, 24-20, at halftime.
Clark took its largest lead of the night, 37-22, at the 5:42 mark of the third after a 13-2 run to open the quarter. Andrews, Moretti and Joseph kept the Corsairs in the game with points in the paint and Wilson sunk a triple to make it a 43-33 game going into the fourth.
It only took five minutes for UMassD to take the lead. Andrews and Moretti opened the fourth with a pair of steals and fast break scores. Senior
Shaelyn Carreiro then scored in paint, Carrol drilled a 3-pointer and Andrews converted on back-to-back layups to cut the deficit to 49-47 with 6:09 to go. The Corsairs kept it going, Donovan sunk a triple, and another and-1 from Andrews gave UMassD the lead for good at the 4:28 mark. The Corsairs then scored the final seven points of the game to finish things off and grab their first win of the year.
UMass Dartmouth is back in action at Regis College at 4 p.m.
