DARTMOUTH, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth women's basketball team were crowned the 2024 Lafrance Hospitality Tournament Champions for the 12
th time after defeating Maine Maritime Academy by a final score of 77-63 from the Tripp Athletic Center on Sunday. Graduate student
Teja Andrews recorded her 1,000
th career point in Sunday's victory to help improve the Corsairs to a 2-0 overall record and hand the Mariners their first loss of the year.
UMass Dartmouth snagged an early 9-3 lead to open the championship game as fifth year
Kaylin Zalewski contributed 7-of-9 points in the run. Shortly after Erianna Moore tied the score up at 9-9 after making both free throws, Andrews stole the ball from Addison Forry and laid in her first bucket of the afternoon to make it 11-9. Junior
Melanie DeMeo knocked down a triple in the final minute of the first quarter, respectively, to give the Corsairs a two-point cushion heading into the second quarter.
The Corsairs once again generated early chances on offense to start the quarter going on a 7-2 run finished off by a three-pointer from Zalewski to give UMass Dartmouth a 21-14 edge.
Graduate student
Jane McCauley drained a pair of shots from behind the arc in the closing minutes of the first half as Jasmine Anderson finished a late jumper narrow the Corsairs lead to 29-17 at the break.
Graduate student
Carly Whiteside and Zalewski each drained a three-pointer to start the third quarter to extend UMass Dartmouth's advantage to eight points. The Mariners quickly responded Evelyn Dagan splashed back-to-back triples to make it a one-point game.
UMass Dartmouth pulled away midway through the quarter thanks to a 10-0 run finished off by an and-one play by Whiteside to give the Corsairs their largest lead of the afternoon at 11-points. Andrews made a pair of driving layups followed by a late basket from junior
Kasey Oliver to put UMass Dartmouth ahead 56-48 at the end of the third.
Dagan opened the scoring in the final quarter of the game by knocking down a triple for the Mariners. Andrews laid in another basket followed by two good free throws to put the Corsairs up by six-points. In the last two minutes of the contest, Whiteside tacked on four-points before Andrews cemented the win by scoring her 1,000
th career point with four seconds remaining to defeat the Mariners by a final score of 77-63.
UMass Dartmouth (28-63) outshot Maine Maritime (22-56) from the floor with a 44.4 shooting percentage. The Mariners knocked down 9-of-23 shots from range (39.1) compared to the Corsairs making 8-of-27 three-pointers (29.6) in the contest. The home team dominated in the paint, scoring 36 of their 77 points in the lane while the visitors posted 14-points in the paint. UMass Dartmouth also capitalized on second chance points converting 11-points in comparison to Maine Maritime with just four points.
Zalewski led the squad with a team-high 23 points (8-14 FG, 4-9 3-FG, 3-6 FT) to go along with eight rebounds, two assists, three steals, and a block. Andrews recorded her 1,000
th career point after scoring 20-points (9-15 FG, 2-4 FT) with five rebounds, two steals, and an assist. Whiteside also earned double-digits for the Corsairs after posting 19 points (5-8 FG, 1-1 3-FG, 8-11 FT) and recording a team-high three blocks.
At the conclusion the game, Zalewski and Whiteside were each named to the 2024 Lafrance Hospitality Tournament All-Star for their performances over the weekend. The victory marks the 12
th championship title for UMass Dartmouth in the tournament since its inception in 2009.
UMass Dartmouth are on the road for their next non-conference tilt at Smith College on Wednesday, Nov. 20. The game is slated for a 7:00 p.m. start time from the Ainsworth Gym.
