CASTLETON, Vt. -Â Senior
Jordan Moretti sunk the go-ahead free throws with 10 seconds remaining and sophomore
Kaylin Zalewski stepped up on defense to make a clutch stop to secure the 56-53 victory for the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth women's basketball team at Castelton Saturday afternoon.
Zalewski recorded a career-high 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting with four 3-pointers for the Corsairs, who finish the regular season with an 18-7 record and 12-4 in the Little East Conference. Senior
Caroline Wilson finished with 12 points and Moretti was also in double figures with 10 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. 5th-year senior
Meagan Donovan pitched in nine points.
Castleton (12-12, 5-10 LEC) was led by freshman Liz Bailey, who finished with 15 points, and junior Elise Magro, who had 14.
Donovan scored all of her nine points in the first. Donovan connected on three 3-pointers and Wilson made a layup, but it was the Spartans who took an 18-11 advantage after the quarter.
The Corsairs climbed back into it in the second. After two free throws made it a 20-11 Castleton lead, Wilson scored five-straight points and Moretti made a breakaway layup to cut the deficit to 22-18 with 4:01 in the half. The Spartans went back up by eight until Moretti and Zalewski combined for seven of the final eight points of the half to make it 28-26.
Carreiro sunk a triple to give UMass Dartmouth its first lead since the first quarter, 29-28. Castelton took it back for most of the remainder of the third until Zalewski knocked down a three and made a pair at the line to give the Corsairs a 42-40 advantage heading to the fourth. Zalewski scored 10 of her 21 points in the third.
Castelton led 53-49 with 1:53 left in the game. Moretti then scored in the paint to cut it to two and Wilson was fouled and hit two at the line to even the score at 53 with 1:06 to go. Moretti made a big play when she grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled on her way back up, making two free throws to make it a 55-53 lead with 10 seconds on the clock. Zalewski came up with a defensive stop in the final seconds and made one at the stripe before sophomore
Teja Andrews blocked the final 3-point attempt by the Spartans to finish it off.
UMass Dartmouth starts the LEC tournament on Tuesday at 5 p.m. The third-seed Corsairs go up against sixth-seeded UMass Boston at the Tripp Athletic Center.
