CASTLETON, Vt. -- Junior
Shaelyn Carreiro (Fall River, Mass.) scored a career-high 23 points and grabbed six rebounds to pace four players in double figures, as UMass Dartmouth claimed its fourth straight victory with an 82-60 Little East Conference women's basketball triumph over Castleton Saturday afternoon at Glenbrook Gym.
The visiting Corsairs (5-3, 5-2 LEC) turned an early one-point deficit into a six-point (24-18) first quarter advantage aided by 11 unanswered points in a four-minute span, as Carreiro and fellow junior
Jordan Moretti (Johnston, R.I.) combined for 21 points in the opening 20 minutes of action to stake UMass Dartmouth to a 44-29 advantage at the break. That margin grew to 16 points (49-33) on Carreiro's jumper 1:56 after intermission, but the host Spartans (1-6, 0-6 LEC) used a 12-2 run over a five-minute stretch to pull to within five (51-45) on senior
Emilee Bose's (Enosburg Falls, Vt.) lay-in with 3:06 remaining in the third stanza. Senior
Meagan Donovan's (Abington, Mass.) three-pointer ignited a 13-2 run that closed the quarter and gave UMass Dartmouth a 64-47 lead heading into the final frame, as the Corsairs scored 11 of the game's final 14 points after Castleton had crept back to within 14 to seal their triumph.
Moretti added 21 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals in the win for the Corsairs, who received 12 points (including a trio of three-pointers) and three boards from junior
Caroline Wilson (Forestdale, Mass.). Donovan chipped in with 10 points, three caroms, three assists and three steals for the visitors, who collected seven points and four assists from freshman
Kaylin Zalewski (Johnston, R.I.) along with six points and six rebounds from senior
Lauren Empey (Middleboro, Mass.). UMass Dartmouth blistered the nets at a 52 percent clip (31-60) that featured 11 three-pointers, as the Corsairs converted 21 Castleton turnovers into 19 points to earn their sixth win in the series between the two schools since the Spartans joined the Little East in 2018.
Senior
Brooke Raiche (Ira, Vt.) notched a double-double effort of 22 points and 10 rebounds in the setback for Castleton, which also received a double-double performance of 17 points and 10 boards from Bose. Sophomore
Elise Magro (Rutland, Vt.) added 12 points and four assists for the Spartans, who shot 37 percent (23-63) from the floor but made just 6-of-21 attempts from behind the arc. Each team grabbed 39 rebounds on a day when the visitors held a 22-7 edge in bench scoring.
UMass Dartmouth is seeded second in the 2021 Little East Conference Championships and will host third-seeded Keene State in league tournament semifinal round action on Wednesday evening at the Tripp Athletic that tips-off at 6:00 pm. Castleton hosts Norwich in the first of a non-league home-and-home set on Friday evening at Glenbrook Gym that also tips-off at 6:00 pm.
