NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – A late second half comeback propelled the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth women's basketball team over ninth-ranked Smith College, 63-60, on Wednesday night to earn third straight win of the season. The Corsairs improved to a 3-0 overall record with tonight's victory while the Pioneers - who are also ranked #14 in the D3hoops.com Top 25 - suffered their first loss of the year.
The Pioneers jumped out to an early 9-2 lead to open the first quarter as senior guard
Amaris Mills posted the first basket of the game for the Corsairs. After Hannah Martin knocked down a three-pointer to extend Smith's advantage to 12-5, graduate student guard
Jemima Joseph produced her first jump shot of the night to make it 12-7. Jane Loo finished a layup late in the quarter to double the home team's lead to 14-7.
Uta Nakamura opened the second quarter with a triple at the 9:30 mark to give Smith a double-figure advantage. Both teams struggled to find the basket for the next couple of minutes until Virgina Johnson added two-points to make it 19-7 Pioneers. Graduate student guard
Teja Andrews kept the Corsair offense going after tallying her first points of the game with a pair of layups midway through the quarter.
Graduate student forward
Carly Whiteside drained a three-pointer followed by a good jump shot from fifth year guard
Kaylin Zalewski to cut the Pioneers lead down to five-points with under five minutes to go in the first half. Smith outscored UMass Dartmouth by a 7-3 margin to end the second quarter and take a 30-21 edge heading into halftime.
UMass Dartmouth started the third quarter strong as four different Corsairs found the basket to keep the score close. At the 5:05 mark, junior guard
Melanie DeMeo finished a layup on the fastbreak to narrow Smith's advantage to just one point. The Pioneers quickly responded by going on a 7-0 run, regaining an eight-point lead with three minutes left in the quarter, respectively. DeMeo and Joseph each found the basket late in the quarter for UMass Dartmouth, but Smith held on to a 43-37 advantage entering the fourth.
Both teams exchanged early points to open the final quarter of the contest featuring an and-one play from Andrews to make it a 45-41 game. After Loo made a pair of free throws for the Pioneers, the Corsairs offense started to click, generating a 10-0 run to give UMass Dartmouth their first lead of the entire game. Mills tied the score at 50-apeice with her three-pointer before Zalewski knocked down a triple to put the Corsairs ahead 53-50 with 2:09 left on the clock.
Entering the last minute of the game, Smith continued to fight back as Ally Landau narrowed UMass Dartmouth's lead to one point with her and-one play. DeMeo and Andrews each went 2-for-2 at the charity stripe to make it 61-54 with 15 seconds remaining. The Pioneers did not back down as Martina and Landau each drained a triple apiece for the home team to make it a one possession game. Zalewski added one final point with her one good free throw to solidify the Corsairs late comeback win by a final score of 63-60.
UMass Dartmouth outscored Smith by a 42-30 margin in the second half to secure their third straight win of the season. The Corsairs shot 41.7 percent from the floor (25-60) while the Pioneers converted 23-of-67 shots for a 34.3 shooting percentage from the field. UMass Dartmouth also capitalized on turnovers, outscoring Smith 21-15 off turnovers in the game.
Andrews led the team with her 17 points (7-15 FG, 3-4 FT) to go along with four rebounds and a pair of steals. Mills ended the night with 16 points (7-14 FG, 2-7 3-FG) while Zalewski also scored double-digits for the Corsairs with 10 points (4-12 FG, 1-6 3-FG, 1-2 FT). Both Zalewski and Whiteside concluded the game with a team-high seven rebounds while DeMeo dished out three assists.
UMass Dartmouth returns home for their next non-conference showdown on Saturday, Nov. 23 hosting Brandeis University. Tipoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. from the Tripp Athletic Center.
