DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Powered by double-figure points from three players, the UMass Dartmouth women's basketball team held off VTSU Castleton for a 77-72 win in Little East action on Saturday at the Tripp Athletic Center. The win, which marked the 175th of head coach Matt Ducharme's career, saw the #25 Corsairs move to 10-2 overall and 3-1 in the LEC. The Spartans are now 7-6 with a 1-3 mark in conference play.
Holding a 41-37 lead after the opening two quarters of play, the Corsairs came into the third with another tight frame as the Spartans kept things close. The visitors battled back from a five-point deficit following a three-pointer from grad student forward
Carly Whiteside, pulling the score to an even 48-all at 6:23 as sophomore guard Stasia Epler nailed a trey of their own.
A pair of free throws from senior guard Teja Andrew kept the Corsairs ahead, but another three from Epler saw the Spartans take a 51-50 lead at 5:45. The Corsairs grabbed the lead once more, but two makes at the line – once again from Epler – saw VTSU with the 53-52 margin.
Andrews continued to play the hero for the Corsairs, draining a layup to put the home team back in front as a three-pointer from junior guard
Amaris Mills sent UMass Dartmouth into the final quarter of play with a 61-57 advantage.
In the final quarter, the Corsairs came out firing, going on a 6-0 run, including a pair of buckets from
Jemima Joseph to open up a 10-point (67-57) margin. The Spartans would not go quietly, battling back to a four-point differential as rookie guard Schuyler Nolan hit a pair of free throws for the 67-63 score.
VTSU Castleton, paced throughout by Elise Magro, saw the grad student guard go on a 9-0 run of her own making it a 74-72 game with 1:08 to play in the contest. A layup from sophomore guard
Tyah Pettaway pushed the Corsairs out to a four-point lead and a Whiteside free throw helped the home team to a five-point edge (77-72) with eight seconds to play. The Spartans saw Epler go for a three with six seconds to play, but a key block by Andrews helped seal the win.
UMass Dartmouth was paced by Andrews, who recorded 21 points with six rebounds, two assists, two blocks in 36 minutes of action. Whiteside added her fourth double-double of the season, recording 18 points and a game-high 11 boards to go along with two assists. Mills dropped in 11 points on the afternoon with seven caroms, an assist and two steals.
Magro led all players with 30 points, adding eight rebounds, an assist and a game-best four steals. Epler recorded 12 points with three steals, while rookie forward Arianna Coombs had 10 points with five boards.
The Corsairs return to action on Tuesday, welcoming UMass Boston to the Tripp Athletic Center for a 4pm LEC game against the Beacons.
