DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Head coach
Matt Ducharme becomes the all-time winningest coach in UMass Dartmouth women's basketball history with today's victory over the University of Southern Maine, 78-34, on Thursday afternoon. The Corsairs captured their fifth consecutive Little East Conference (LEC) win to go 6-0 in league play while the Huskies dropped to a 3-3 LEC record. Ducharme surpasses Judy Sullivan (1977-93) to become the winningest all-time coach in program history with 201 career wins.
Graduate students
Carly Whiteside and
Jaelyn Lavigne each knocked down a triple in the opening minutes of play to give the Corsairs an early 8-4 edge. At the 3:21 mark graduate student
Teja Andrews drained three-pointer followed by another triple by graduate student
Jane McCauley, who earned NEWBA Second Team honors this week, to pull UMass Dartmouth away with a 10-point lead. Liz Cote clipped in a long range shot for the Huskies, but the Corsairs tacked on four points to claim a 20-12 advantage at the end of the first.
Lucy Wiles started the second quarter by finishing a driving layup to cut down UMass Dartmouth's to six points. Fifth year
Jemima Joseph posted the next four points featuring a layup and two good free throws. With 3:29 left on the clock, Francesca Ramsdell completed a good and-one play for Southern Maine, but UMass Dartmouth produced four late points to take a 32-23 advantage at the break.
The Corsairs started the third quarter strong going on an 8-0 run highlighted by an and-one play from junior
Melanie DeMeo and a triple by Lavigne. Midway through the quarter, Mills had the hot hand draining four triples in a row for UMass Dartmouth to give the home team a 25 point lead with 2:57 left in the third. McCauley capped off the quarter with a good three-pointer to extend Corsairs to a 60-31 cushion entering the final quarter of the game.
Lavigne opened the fourth by dropping four of the opening six points for UMass Dartmouth to make it 66-31. First year
Elizabeth Gresian checked into the game makring her eight appearance and clipped in her forst collegiate basket after going 1-for-2 from the charity stripe. At the 4:54 mark, junior
Cristina Negron produced her first basket of the contest from behind the arc to pull UMass Dartmouth away with a commanding 38 point advantage. Lavigne banked in a late free throw to give the Corsairs their largest lead of the afternoon at 41 points, but UMass Dartmouth secured their fifth straight conference win at home by a final score of 78-38.
Mills led the squad with 17 points after going 6-of-11 from the field featuring four made three-pointers (4-9 3-FG) to match her season-high. Lavigne also scored in double digits for the Corsairs with a career-high 15 points (6-12 FG, 2-5 3-FG, 1-3 FT) to go along with two rebounds and an assist. Whiteside hauled in a team-high 10 boards, two offense and eight defense, and posted seven points, three assists, and a steal.
Joseph recorded nine points (3-9 FG, 3-6 FT) and nine boards in the victory while Andrews tallied a team-high three steals. DeMeo also dished out seven total assists for the Corsairs marking a career-high for the junior guard.
UMass Dartmouth are on the road for their next Little East tilt at Western Connecticut State University on Saturday, Jan. 18. The game is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. from the William A. O'Neill Center.
