BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – The nationally ranked UMass Dartmouth women's basketball team suffered their first loss of the season against Bridgewater State University, 99-85, in non-conference on Saturday afternoon. The Corsairs are now 6-1 on the season while the Bears improved to a 7-1 overall record.
Bridgewater State jumped out to an early 5-0 lead to begin the game as Kylee Piche opened the scoring with an and-one play. Fifth year guard
Kaylin Zalewski clipped in both free throws to put the Corsairs on the scoreboard. UMass Dartmouth continued to capitalize from the charity stripe as graduate students
Teja Andrews and
Carly Whiteside each went 2-for-2 from the line to make it a one-point game.
Senior guard
Amaris Mills drained her first triple of the afternoon to give UMass Dartmouth their first lead at 15-13. Both teams exchanged points before graduate student guard
Jane McCauley posted her first six points of the contest featuring an and-one play and three made free throws to put the Corsairs on top 25-17.
Whiteside opened the second quarter with a good layup off the assist from Zalewski to give the visitors a six-point edge. A 9-2 run by the Corsairs kept them in the lead with Mills dropping another three-pointer and Zalewski tacking on four more points. UMass Dartmouth then went on a 10-0 kicked off by a Zalewski triple to extend their advantage to 47-33. The Bears continued to fight back, cutting the Corsairs lead down to seven points after Piche knocked down a buzzer-beating three-pointer to enter halftime ahead 51-44.
The home team came out strong in the third, going on a 10-2 run to regain a 54-53 edge over the Corsairs. UMass Dartmouth quickly answered as Whiteside finished a layup followed by a good jumper from Mils to go up 57-54. Knotted up at 59-apecie, Andrews responded at the 4:10 mark by finishing an and-one play to put the Corsairs ahead by three points. Bridgewater State ended the quarter by going 4-for-6 from the line to once again narrow UMass Dartmouth's lead to just one point.
The Bears found rhythm early in the final quarter of the game generating an 8-0 run with five of those points scored by Kylie Grassi to put the home team up 73-66. McCauley made a driving layup into the paint and picked up the and-one for a three-point play to give UMass Dartmouth energy. Andrews and Zalewski each added a basket to bring the Corsairs within two points with 5:49 on the clock.
In the last three minutes of action, Jessica D'Amours sank a pair of triples for the Bears to help extend their advantage into double digits. Bridgewater State finished the game going 6-for-6 from the free throw line to defeat UMass Dartmouth by a final score of 99-85 from Tinsley Center.
Zalewski ended the game with a team-high 24 points (8-12 FG, 1-5 3-FG, 7-7 FT) with five rebounds, three steals, two blocks, and an assist. Andrews scored 21 points (6-12 FG, 0-1 3-FG, 9-11 FT) and hauled in 10 rebounds for second career double-double as a Corsair. White also recorded a double-double in the contest with 10 points (4-8 FG, 0-2 3-FG, 2-2 FT) along with 10 rebounds. Mills (6-14 FG, 0-1 3-FG) and McCauley (3-9 FG, 5-5 FT) each scored in the double figures.
The Corsairs will travel to San Juan, Puerto Rico for the upcoming winter break to play in the 2024 Puerto Rico Clasico. UMass Dartmouth's first game of the tournament is against Hanover College on Wednesday, Dec. 18 starting at 6:30 p.m.
