NORTHAMPTON, Mass. -Â The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth women's basketball team suffered a 78-58 loss to Smith College, host of the Smith Holiday Tournament, on Saturday.Â
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The Corsairs drop to 5-6 overall and hold a 1-1 LEC record going into the new year. The Pioneers earned their tenth win and rep a 10-1 record.Â
Just two players scored in double figures for the Corsairs, highlighted by junior
Kaylin Zalewski, who had a night with 26 points and 5 rebounds. Zalewski caught fire from deep, hitting five of her seven three-point attempts. She also shot 10-15 (66.7%) from the field. Junior
Teja Andrews tallied 10 points and five assists. As a team, UMass Dartmouth converted just 25.9% of their threes, compared to Smith College's 36.7%.Â
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Pioneers' junior Ally Yamada and senior Morgan Morrison combined for 52 of their team's 78 points. Yamada tallied a game-high 28 points along with four assists and three steals. Morrison snagged 16 rebounds to go with her 24 points.  Â
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The Corsairs jumped ahead in the very beginning thanks to back-to-back three pointers from Zalewski, and another from grad student Jessica Carrol. After leading the game 9-6, UMass Dartmouth allowed Smith College to go on a 25-4 run to close out the first quarter leading 31-13.
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UMD continued to try to cut into the Pioneer's lead, and was able to narrow it back down to a 10 point game with eight minutes to go in the third quarter. By the end of the third, however, Smith College extended the lead back to 20 points, a margin that they would keep over the Corsairs for the remainder of the game. Smith's strong season continued with a 78-58 win over UMassD.Â
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The Corsairs lost the turnover battle in this one, 18-13, and allowed 22 points off of those turnovers. UMD also struggled to finish defensive possessions, allowing 17 second-chance points for the Pioneers. Â
UMass Dartmouth will return to conference action in 2023Â when they host Keene State on Wednesday for a 4 PM game at the Tripp Center.Â
