CASTLETON, Vt. – Powered by sophomore
Tyah Pettaway's first career double-double, along with a game-high 18 points from graduate student
Carly Whiteside, the UMass Dartmouth women's basketball team overcame a first half deficit to defeat VTSU Castleton, 66-56, in Little East action on Saturday. The win saw the #22 Corsairs move to 18-3 overall and 10-2 in the LEC. The Spartans are now 9-12 with a 3-9 mark in conference play.
The Corsairs saw a balanced scoring effort, headed by Whiteside's 18 points. She also hauled in eight rebounds and blocked three shots. Pettaway scored 15 points with 11 rebounds for her first double-double of the season. Sophomore guard
Melanie DeMeo added 14 points and five rebounds, going 6 for 7 from the free throw line. UMD shot a combined season-best 13 for 14 (92.9%) from the free throw line.
VTSU Castleton, paced throughout by Liz Bailey, saw the junior forward score 16 and grab 12 rebounds for the double-double. Bailey also recorded a season-high five blocked shots. The Spartans also saw sophomore Stasia Epler score 12 and sophomore Emily Adams put up 11 points and eight rebounds.
After a strong second quarter for VTSU Castleton, where they outscored the Corsairs 25-14, the Spartans led by three after the opening two quarters of play. The Corsairs came out in the third quarter with an immediate answer, feeding Whiteside for eight straight points, including a three-pointer and an and-one bucket inside. The 8-0 run gave UMass Dartmouth a 35-31 lead at the 7:12 mark of the third.
The Spartans responded with a 5-1 run of their own, capped off by a three-pointer from junior Liz Bailey. The two squads traded buckets down the stretch of the third quarter, going into the fourth quarter with UMass Dartmouth leading, 47-46.
VTSU Castleton struck first in the final frame, re-taking the lead after two early buckets from sophomore Emily Adams at the 7:01 mark. The Corsairs took the lead back on a DeMeo layup, followed by a transition three-pointer from Pettaway that put UMD up by four with 6:22 left. Still leading by four with one minute remaining, DeMeo put the game away for the Corsairs. DeMeo finished a layup with :57 seconds left, before going 4-for-4 from the free throw line in clutch time, cementing a 66-56 win for UMass Dartmouth.
The Corsairs return to action on Wednesday, traveling to UMass Boston for a 5:00pm LEC game against the Beacons.
