SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The nationally ranked UMass Dartmouth women's basketball team opened the 2024 Puerto Rico Clasico with a loss against Hanover College on Wednesday evening from the Ruben Rodriguez Coliseum. The Corsairs are now 6-2 on the season while the Panthers go 8-2 overall.
Graduate student
Carly Whiteside produced her first basket to give UMass Dartmouth its first points of the game. Shortly after, graduate student
Teja Andrews finished a pair of jumpers in the paint to tie the score up at 6-apiece. Grace Bezold gave the Panthers a 10-6 edge with her back-to-back layups that were soon disrupted by a good jumper by senior
Amaris Mills. With 2:37 on the clock, fifth year
Jaelyn Lavigne knocked down a three-pointer off the assist from Andrews to even the score at 13-13. UMass Dartmouth took a 22-15 lead at the end of the first thanks to fifth year
Kaylin Zalewski draining three triples in a row.
Zalewski splashed her fourth three-pointer to open the second quarter, extending the Corsairs advantage to double digits. UMass Dartmouth held on to their lead as Whiteside contributed four points in a 6-0 burst to make it 35-25 midway through the quarter. Mills sank a pair of triples, both assisted by Zalewski, to keep the Corsairs ahead with under three minutes remaining in the half. A late 6-2 run by Hanover narrowed UMass Dartmouth's lead down to six points, but fifth year
Jemima Joseph finished two free throws to give the Corsairs a 44-36 edge heading into halftime.
Shortly after junior
Melanie DeMeo laid in a basket to start the third quarter, the Panthers strung six straight points together to make it 46-42. At the 4:44 mark, Zalewski banked in another triple to give the Corsairs a nine point advantage, but Hanover's offense came alive going on an 11-0 run to regain a 55-53 lead. In the final minute, Zalewski put UMass Dartmouth up by two points thanks to two shots from the charity stripe and a jumper before entering the final quarter of the game.
Alexis Wines leveled the score at 59-apeice with her layup at the 7:10 mark of the fourth. Lavigne soon answered with a three-pointer to put the Corsairs ahead 62-59. DeMeo then knocked down a triple to make it 69-64 with under four minutes left in the contest. Hanover once again tied the game up at 69-69 after Katherine Benter posted five points. Graduate student
Jane McCauley drained a three-pointer at the 1:26 mark to give UMass Dartmouth a three-point cushion. The Panthers, however, concluded the game with an 8-0 run to secure a 77-72 win.
Zalewski led the Corsairs with 23 points (8-14 FG, 5-10 3-FG, 2-2 FT) to go along with four rebounds, three steals, and a pair of assists. Mills also scored double figures with 13 points (5-14 FG, 2-7 3-FG, 1-2 FT) for UMass Dartmouth hauling in five rebounds and recording two steals. On the defensive end, Whiteside grabbed a season-high 11 rebounds and posted one block while dropping eight points (4-9 FG).
UMass Dartmouth is back in action on Thursday, Dec. 19 for their final game of the 2024 Puerto Rico Clasico against Randolph College. The game is scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. AST tipoff from the Ruben Rodriguez Coliseum.
