PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Seniors
Sophia Guerrier (Waltham, Mass.) and
Brooke Young (West Warwick, R.I.) each scored 12 points, as Rhode Island College held off a late charge in the closing minutes to post a 61-56 Little East Conference women's basketball victory over UMass Dartmouth Wednesday evening at The Murray Center.
The host Anchorwomen (4-0, 4-0 LEC) saw the visiting Corsairs (0-2, 0-2 LEC) race out to a 19-14 first quarter advantage on nine combined points by junior
Shaelyn Carriero (Fall River, Mass.) and senior
Lauren Empey (Middleboro, Mass.), but Rhode Island College forged a 32-32 deadlock at the break when Young drained a three-pointer with 33 seconds remaining in the half. The Anchorwomen used a 9-3 run in the opening 5:38 after intermission to take a six-point advantage (41-35) on a pair of Young free throws and took a four-point edge (46-42) into the final 10 minutes of action, as the hosts increased that margin to as much as seven points in the fourth quarter. UMass Dartmouth crept back to within three on junior
Jordan Moretti's (Johnston, R.I.) free throw with 2:02 to play in the contest, but freshman
Ashanti Frazier (Newington, Conn.) canned a pair from the charity stripe with seven seconds remaining to ice Rhode Island College's triumph.
Sophomore
Izabelle Booth (Newport, R.I.) added nine points and seven rebounds for the Anchorwomen, who collected their second victory over the Corsairs in a week's time. Junior
Willcia McBorrough (Providence, R.I.) and sophomore
Maci Dorantes (Bristol, Conn.) each added eight points for the hosts, who received 11 boards from freshman
Essence McClain (Bronx, N.Y.). Rhode Island College shot just 33 percent (24-72) from the field overall, but the Anchorwomen held an 18-3 scoring edge from behind the arc along with a 51-45 rebounding advantage on the evening.
Carreiro notched 12 points and nine rebounds in the setback for UMass Dartmouth, which received a double-double effort of 10 points, 11 boards and four assists from Moretti. Junior
Jessica Carroll (Deep River, Conn.) chipped in with nine points for the visitors, who received eight points from freshman
Faye Veilleux (Wrentham, Mass.) and six caroms from Empey. The Corsairs shot 31 percent (18-59) from the floor and connected on just one of 13 attempts from three-point range.
Both teams will square off with Plymouth State in their next respective Little East Conference outings, as UMass Dartmouth heads to the Granite State for a road clash with the Panthers on Saturday afternoon that tips-off at 1:00 pm. Rhode Island College is idle for the next 10 days before hosting Plymouth State on Saturday, February 13
th at the Murray Center for a Noon tip-off.
