WILLIMANTIC, Conn. - Senior
Jordan Moretti finished with 20 points, six rebounds and three assists to lead the third-seeded University of Massachusetts Dartmouth women's basketball team over second-seeded Eastern Connecticut, 67-57, Thursday to advance to the Little East Conference (LEC) Championship.
The Corsairs (20-7) advance to their fourth conference championship game in program history and third in the last five years. In search of its first-ever LEC championship, UMass Dartmouth will visit top-seeded and defending champion Rhode Island College Saturday in the title game. The Anchorwomen eliminated fourth-seeded University of Southern Maine, 59-37, in the other Thursday semifinal. The teams have never met in the championship game.
The Warriors finish their season with an 18-9 record and have their 12-game winning streak and six-game home winning streak ended.
UMass Dartmouth took control of the game in the early stages. Senior Caroline Wilson drilled a 3-pointer and made a layup to jump ahead to a 9-4 lead and the Corsairs stayed on top for the remainder of the game. Moretti and Wilson scored every point of the first. Every two-point basket was a fastbreak layup as UMassD took a 15-10 advantage after one.
The Corsairs worked the paint to begin the second, converting three layups, before Moretti drained a triple to go up, 25-14, with 7:05 on the clock. An and-1 by sophomore Teja Andrews kept things rolling, junior Haley Reinold sunk a three, and the Corsairs maintained a double-digit lead, 35-23, at halftime.
The beginning of the third went UMass Dartmouth's way. A 6-2 run gave the Corsairs their largest lead of the day, 41-25, at the 6:49 mark of the quarter. Eastern Connecticut got back into the game, going on a 14-4 run, to close its gap to 45-40, until Reinold hit a basket inside to bring it back to a 47-40 advantage heading to the fourth.
UMass Dartmouth had an answer for every Eastern Connecticut bucket in the fourth. An and-1 from Morreti got it started and 5th-year senior Meagan Donovan hit a huge triple to help make it 61-49 with 1:40 to go. Eastern brought it back to a six-point deficit but had to foul the Corsairs who sunk their free throws to advance to the championship.
It was a balanced scoring attack. Wilson had 11 points, while Andrews, Reinold and sophomore Kaylin Zalewski each notched eight points. Donovan and senior Shaelynn Carreiro both chipped in six points, while Donovan added nine rebounds to lead all players.
The LEC Championship is set for 12 p.m. at Rhode Island College. The Corsairs are going for their first-ever title.
