Women's Basketball Hosts Keene State In Little East Semifinals Wednesday

The UMass Dartmouth women's basketball team begins its quest for the 2021 Little East Conference tournament title on Wednesday evening, as the Corsairs are seeded second in this year's championship and welcome third-seeded Keene State to the Tripp Athletic Center for semifinal round action that tips-off at 6:00 pm EST.
 
Head Coach Matt Ducharme's enters the post-season having won four straight and five of its last six outings, as UMass Dartmouth finished its regular season slate at 5-3 overall and won five of its seven Little East outings along the way.  The Corsairs, who have claimed two of the last four conference regular season crowns, are looking to add the program's first league tournament championship to their resume.
 
Ducharme, who sports an overall mark of 128-46 (.736) during his seven-year tenure at his alma mater, will look to four members of his junior class who have helped lead the way in several categories this winter.  All-Little East guard Jordan Moretti (Johnston, R.I.) paces UMass Dartmouth with 15.9 points, 8.1 rebounds and 5.6 assists per outing, as she enters the post-season ranked 17^th nationally in assists per game and tied for 25^th in Division III play in double-doubles with three.  Forward Shaelyn Carreiro (Fall River, Mass./Durfee) follows at 11.9 points and six boards per contest, while guards Jessica Carroll (Deep River, Conn./Mercy) and Caroline Wilson (Forestdale, Mass./Sandwich) add 9.4 and 7.6 ppg, respectively, for the Corsairs.
 
Senior Meagan Donovan (Abington, Mass./Archbishop Williams) and freshman Kaylin Zalewski (Johnston, R.I./Johnston) have provided a spark off the bench for Ducharme's crew this winter after averaging 5.8 and 5.4 ppg respectively, while senior Lauren Empey (Middleboro, Mass./Middleboro) adds just over four points per outing and ranks third on the team in rebounding at 5.8 caroms per contest.  UMass Dartmouth ranks among the nation's top three-point shooting squads in the country and is averaging nearly eight triples per game.
 
Keene State recorded a 2-4 mark both overall and in Little East play under veteran mentor Keith Boucher, as the Owls notched both of their regular season triumphs over Castleton.  Sophomore Hailey Derosia paces Keene State in scoring at 10.8 points while adding 5.8 rebounds per contest, while senior Lilly Shilmon and freshman Jackie Alibrandi have combined for 17.0 ppg to date.  Freshman Rylee Burgess leads the Owls on the boards at 6.3 caroms per contest.
 
UMass Dartmouth swept both regular season matchups from Keene State in a home-and-home set played just nine days ago, as the Corsairs collected a 73-46 victory at the Tripp Athletic Center on February 20^th and followed that up 24 hours later with a 70-55 triumph at Spaulding Gymnasium in Keene, N.H.
 
Wednesday night's other conference semifinal will see top-seeded Rhode Island College (9-0, 7-0) entertain fourth-seeded Plymouth State (1-3, 1-3) at The Murray Center in Providence, R.I. for a 6:00 pm EST tip-off.  The two semifinal winners will meet for the Little East championship on Saturday afternoon at the site of the highest remaining seed at a time to be determined.
 
Unfortunately, COVID-19 restrictions prohibit spectators from attending Wednesday night's semifinals, but you can follow all of the action at corsairathletics.com and view the broadcast at littleeast.tv.  For more information on this year's Little East Women's Basketball Championships, visit littleeast.com.
 
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Keene State Roster
 
Keene State Statistics
 
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