DARTMOUTH, Mass. - It was a back-and-forth affair on Saturday afternoon as the UMass Dartmouth women's basketball team notched a 62-56 victory over Castleton University in the Little East Conference regular season finale for both teams. The win moves the Corsairs to 16-9 overall and 12-4 in conference play, while the Spartans drop to 16-9 and 9-7 in the Little East.
A tight opening quarter, which saw UMD up 15-14, broke open for the homestanding Corsairs in the second quarter as they held Castleton to just six points for a 32-20 lead heading into the intermission. After a pull up shot from Elise Magro at the 6:31 mark put the visitors ahead 20-19, the Corsairs took control with a 13-0 run, aided by eight points from fifth-year senior guard
Jessica Carroll.
Third quarter action saw the home team continue to hold a solid lead as Carroll dropped in a layup at 7:45 (41-24) and a three-pointer from graduate student Jordan Moretti made it a 14-point margin (44-30) with 2:32 to go. Magro posted three points for the Spartans to end the frame as UMD owned a 48-33 lead into the final quarter.
A quick layup to start the frame by junior forward Jemima Joseph pushed the UMD lead to 17 (50-33), but the Spartans quickly rallied as a 6-2 run closed the gap to 52-39 at 7:27. Castleton continued to press as another pull up jumper from Magro, coupled with a three-point shot from Kelly Vuz, closed the gap to 10 points (55-44) midway through the frame.
A pair of free throw makes from Vuz at 2:17 saw the visitor's deficit drop to seven (57-50), as back-to-back shots by Magro closed it to a 57-54 margin with just 57 seconds remaining. Out of a Corsairs timeout, junior guard
Kaylin Zalewski nailed a three-pointer and fifth-year senior forward
Caroline Wilson sank a pair of free throws to put the Corsairs up 62-56 at 21 seconds.
UMD saw Moretti record a team-high 17 points with nine rebounds, three assists and a block in the contest, while Zalewski dropped 11 points with seven caroms. Carroll added 10 points, a rebound and an assist, while junior guard
Teja Andrews had nine points, nine rebounds and four assists.
Magro led all game scorers with 26 points, adding nine rebounds, and game-highs in both assists (8) and steals (6). Liz Bailey recorded 12 points with six boards and two blocks, while Vuz added seven points, eight rebounds, an assist and a steal for the Spartans.
Prior to the contest, the Corsairs honored their five graduating seniors/grad students in a Senior Day ceremony. Among those honored were Moretti, Carroll, Wilson, graduate student and guard
Julia Quinn, along with fifth-year senior
Shaelyn Carreiro, who returned to the court to score the game's opening bucket before being taken out.
UMass Dartmouth has locked up the third seed in the upcoming Little East Conference Tournament, which opens on Tuesday night. The Corsairs will take on sixth-seeded Keene State in a 6:30pm match-up here at the Tripp Athletic Center.
