Women's Basketball Continues to Roll with 77-71 Win Over the Huskies

GORHAM, Maine - University of Massachusetts Dartmouth trio of Jordan Moretti (grad student), Jessica Carroll (grad student), and Teja Andrews (junior) scored a combined 46 points, holding off University of Southern Maine 77-71 this afternoon in a Little East Conference contest.
 
The Corsairs are in the midst of a three-game win streak to improve to 13-8 overall, including a 9-3 mark in the conference circuit, while the Huskies fell to 5-14 and 3-8 against conference opponents.  UMass Dartmouth has won the last 14 consecutive contests against Southern Maine. 

UMass Dartmouth used a balanced scoring attack headed by Moretti, Carroll and Andrews. Moretti tallied 16 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Carroll caught fire from deep, sinking 4-of-7 attempts from behind the arc on her way to 16 points. Andrews scored 14 points, grabbed eight rebounds and stole the ball three times on defense.

Southern Maine saw four players put up double-digit points, including a game-high 20 points for junior Amy Fleming. Her classmate Franny Ramsdell tallied 15 points for the Huskies while going 8-for-8 from the charity stripe. As a team, Southern Maine went 15-for-16 (93.8%) from the free-throw line. 
 
Five minutes into the opening quarter, a layup from grad student Caroline Wilson gave the Corsairs the lead that they would never give up. Soon after Wilson's score, Moretti made her presence felt by sinking back-to-back deep balls, including one where she drew a foul and converted the four-point play. Moretti then nailed a third three in a row, putting the Corsairs up 10 in the first quarter. 
 
The Huskies controlled the second quarter, out-scoring UMassD 19-to-15. Fleming hit two deep balls and went 3-for-3 from the field for the quarter. The Corsairs still held the lead going into halftime, 36-30. 
 
The second half began with four quick points from Andrews for UMass Dartmouth. Carroll caught fire in the third quarter, nailing 3-of-4 three-point attempts. Carroll's scoring burst help extend the Corsair's lead to 14 points going into the final quarter. 
 
Consecutive layups from Moretti and junior Jemima Joseph pushed UMD's lead to 16 points at the start of the fourth, the largest lead of the game. Ramsdell, Fleming, and junior Tamrah Gould helped narrow the gap under double digits for the Huskies with less than a minute remaining. A huge three was hit by Southern Maine freshman Vanessa Vaughan to bring them within five with just 17 seconds on the clock. Efficient free-throw shooting from Carroll and Kaylin Zalewski (junior) helped the Corsairs hang on late, to an eventual 77-71 victory. 
 
UMass Dartmouth returns to action at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, February 8, when the Corsairs travel to Keene State (5-14, 3-10 LEC).