KEENE, N.H. – Powered by a 22-point game on 66.7% efficiency from senior
Kaylin Zalewski, the UMass Dartmouth women's basketball team edged Keene State for an 81-55 win in Little East action on Wednesday. The win saw the Corsairs move to 14-2 overall and 7-1 in the LEC. The Owls are now 6-9 overall with a 2-5 mark in conference play.
The Corsairs held a 44-25 lead after the opening two quarters of play, seeing an early scoring explosion from Zalewski and sophomore
Melanie DeMeo. DeMeo tallied 10 points in the first quarter alone and 13 in the opening half.
After scoring 11 first half points, Zalewski continued to roll for UMass Dartmouth in the third quarter, hitting another three and a floater through the lane that put UMD up by 22 points at the 6:46 mark in the quarter. Zalewski seemed unstoppable in the third quarter, scoring an and-one and sunk another three-pointer to put UMD up by 24 with two minutes left in the third.
Entering the final quarter with a 61-38 lead, UMass Dartmouth got their late-game scoring from sophomore
Tyah Pettaway, senior
Jemima Joseph and junior
Amaris Mills. Pettaway nailed two three-pointers in the fourth quarter, alongside two more threes from Mills and freshman
Brooke Orton. The Corsairs finished on top, 81-55 over the Owls.
Keene State, paced throughout by the game's leading scorer Brynn Rautiola, saw the freshman guard score 26 points with four rebounds. She added two assists, two steals and went 6 for 7 from the free throw line. Valerie Luizzi posted a 13-point night with four rebounds and went a perfect 6 for 6 from the free throw line.
UMass Dartmouth was paced by Zalewski, who scored 22 points in only 23 minutes of action. Zalewski added eight rebounds to go with her 22 points, shooting 8 for 12 (66.7%) from the floor and 5 for 9 (55.6%) from deep. DeMeo had an efficient night of her own, scoring 13 points on 5 of 8 (62.5%) from the field and 2 for 4 (50.0%) from deep. Pettaway added 10 points and five rebounds off the bench. The Corsairs out-paced the Owls in bench points (29-5) and second-chance points (20-9).
The Corsairs return to action on Saturday, taking on out-of-conference Connecticut College. Tip off is scheduled for 12pm in New London, Ct.
