DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Powered by a 22-point performance from senior
Teja Andrews, the UMass Dartmouth women's basketball team edged Western Connecticut for an 83-53 win in Little East action on Saturday at the Tripp Athletic Center. The win saw the Corsairs move to 13-2 overall and 6-1 in the LEC. The 13-2 start marks the best record through 15 games in program history. The Wolves are now 5-12 with a 1-7 mark in conference play.
The Corsairs held a 49-30 lead after the opening two quarters of play, powered by a 14-point half from grad student
Carly Whiteside and 10 second quarter points from Andrews. Kicking off the second half with a 19-point advantage, UMass Dartmouth separated further in the third quarter. Andrews, Whiteside, sophomore
Melanie DeMeo and senior
Kaylin Zalewski provided the scoring early in the third quarter, taking a 23-point lead at the 5:16 mark of the third quarter.
WestConn responded with three consecutive three-pointers, coming from junior Nicole Peralta, and the senior duo of Sydney Craig and Maggie Nardini. The 9-0 run cut the UMD lead down to 15 with 2:25 to go. The Corsairs closed out the quarter with scoring from their bench, with contributions from sophomore
Kasey Oliver, sophomore
Tyah Pettaway and junior
Amaris Mills. UMass Dartmouth entered the final quarter with a 64-43 lead.
The fourth quarter began with Andrews taking over, she tallied seven points in the first four minutes of the period, extending the Corsair lead to 28. With a large lead in the closing minutes of action, Head Coach Matt Ducharme put in his reserves who helped the Corsairs coast to an 83-53 home victory, capped off by a three-ball from freshman
Shelby Companion.
Western Connecticut, paced throughout by Craig, saw the senior guard score 11 points with four rebounds. She went 3 for 5 from deep in her efforts. The Wolves saw nine points each from Nardini and senior Gabriella Franks. Franks hauled in seven rebounds in her efforts.
UMass Dartmouth was paced by Andrews' 22 points on 7 for 10 from the field. Andrews also recorded four rebounds, four assists and four steals. The Corsairs saw two others score in double-figures, including an 18-point day from Whiteside. Whiteside was 3 for 5 from deep and one rebound shy of a double-double with nine. Zalewski added 10 points with six rebounds and five steals. As a team, UMass Dartmouth bested WestConn in several statistical categories; including points off turnovers (20-7), second-chance points (14-9), fast break scoring (26-5) and dominated the scoring inside the key (54-12).
The Corsairs, who are receiving votes in the latest D3Hoops.com and WBCA Polls, hit the road on Wednesday, traveling to Keene State for a 5:30pm LEC game against the Owls.
