LEWISTON, Maine – Powered by five Corsairs scoring in double digits, the UMass Dartmouth women's basketball took down Bates College, 88-82, in an overtime thriller during a non-conference showdown on Saturday afternoon. The Corsairs continue their nine-game win streak improving to 15-2 overall with the victory over the Bobcats who fell to a 10-8 overall record.
The Bobcats opened the game with a 7-3 lead with all seven points coming from Alexandra Long in the first two minutes of play, respectively. Senior
Amaris Mills answered with a good bucket from distance for her first points of the game to make it 7-6. Sarah Hughes then knocked down a pair of triples for Bates to extend their advantage to 13-7 with 6:50 on the board. Graduate student
Carly Whiteside quickly responded by finishing an and-one play before Mills drained two more three-pointers to tie the game up at 15-apeice. UMass Dartmouth powered their way to a 27-20 lead by the end of the first after generating a 12-5 run highlighted by the fourth triple of the quarter by Mills.
Graduate student
Teja Andrews kicked off the second quarter with a good driving layup to pull away with a nine-point edge. Down 29-20, Bates went on an 11-0 run to regain a 31-29 lead featuring triples from Mya Hicks and Long. With 1:31 remaining in the half, Ava James knocked down a three-pointer to give the home team their largest lead of the contest at 10 points and take a 44-34 advantage at the break.
Hughes extended the Bobcats lead to 48-35 with her jumper off the helper from Elsa Daulerio early in the third. Fifth year
Kaylin Zalewski picked up a steal and finished a fastbreak bucket to kickstart an 11-2 run for UMass Dartmouth featuring a triple apiece from junior
Melanie DeMeo and Mills. Down by five points with 5:09 on the clock, the Corsairs kept fighting building an 8-0 run highlighted by an and-one play from graduate student
Jane McCauley to claim a 54-51 edge over Bates. The Bobcats battled back to go ahead 61-58 with a late finish by Hughes entering the last quarter of the game.
Both teams exchanged early shots to open the fourth as fifth year
Jemima Joseph laid in a bucket followed by a Zalewksi triple to tie the score up at 65-apeice. Shortly after Hughes sank another triple for the Bobcats, McCauley answered with a three-pointer of her own. Andrews then finished an and-one play to give UMass Dartmouth a 74-72 lead over Bates approaching the final minute of regulation. Long gave the Bobcats a 75-74 edge after finishing a fastbreak layup with 33 seconds on the clock, but Whiteside sent the game into overtime after going 1-for-2 from the line.
Knotted up at 75-piece, Joseph kicked off the scoring in overtime with her bucket off the assist from Mills. Sophie Spolter put Bates ahead 79-77 with her jumper at the 3:01 mark, but DeMeo quickly tied it back up with her driving layup. With under two minutes remaining in overtime, Whiteside scored the next five points for the Corsairs to take a, 84-80 lead. Bates continued to battle in the final seconds, but the Corsairs secured the win, 88-82, in an overtime thriller to improve their win streak to nine games.
Whiteside recorded her third double-double of the season posting a team-high 20 points (6-14 FG, 8-13 FT) and a season-high 14 rebounds. She also produced two assists and a pair of blocks in the win. Mills dropped 19 points (6-15 FG) featuring five made three-pointers (5-10 3-FG) along with six rebounds, four assists, and a steal. Zalewski returned to the court producing 12 points (5-14 FG, 2-7 3-FG) in the road victory with seven boards while Andrews (3-10 FG, 4-7 FT) and Joseph (5-7 FG, 1-2 FT) each scored double digits for UMass Dartmouth. Andrews led the team with her three steals while Zalewski dished out a team-high five assists.
UMass Dartmouth returns to Little East Conference (LEC) action on Wednesday, Jan. 29 at Eastern Connecticut State University. The league game is slated to begin at 5:00 p.m. from Geissler Gymnasium.
