DARTMOUTH, Mass. – The UMass Dartmouth women's basketball team downed Emerson College, 77-69, on Saturday afternoon during the opening day of the 2025 Lafrance Hospitality Classic from the Tripp Gym. The Corsairs picked their first win of the season to improve to 1-3 overall while the Lions dropped to 2-1 on the year.
The Corsairs got out to a quick 5-0 start thanks to an opening three-pointer from graduate student
Yasmine Santos followed by a layup from sophomore Elizebeth Gresian. Senior guard
Melanie DeMeo knocked down a pair of triples to put UMass Dartmouth ahead 13-3 with 6:46 left in the first quarter. After Claire English finished a layup for the Lions, Gresian drained a three-point shot off the feed from senior guard
Cristina Negron to make it 17-9. Santos wrapped up the opening quarter by scoring eight of the last 10 points for the Corsairs to take a 25-12 advantage into the second quarter.
The Lions kicked off the second quarter with a 4-0 run before graduate student guard
Kaila Pruitt disrupted their momentum with a basket from beyond the arc. Midway through the quarter, DeMeo added four points followed by a triple from senior guard
Kasey Oliver at the 3:21 mark to extend UMass Dartmouth's lead to 39-26. Lindsay Gould answered for Emerson by draining two three-pointers late in the quarter, but the Corsairs held on to a 43-34 edge entering halftime.
After a slow start to the third quarter, the Lions connected five straight points to narrow the Corsairs advantage down to four points. Santos responded with a three-point shot from Oliver who later finished a tough basket in the paint to make 48-42. At the 2:24 mark, first year
Carly McDonald kickstarted a 6-0 run for UMass Dartmouth with her first jumper of the contest followed by four more points from Santos. After Gould clipped in a late triple for the Lions, Oliver went 2-for-2 from the free throw line to take a 56-48 edge into the final quarter.
First year
Riley Graveline opened the fourth quarter with a three-point shot off the assist from classmate
Jillian Doherty. Emerson fought back to tie the game up at 61-apiece thanks to a 10-0 run featuring triples from Gould and Kendra Dodd. DeMeo finished two baskets and picked up a steal to get the Corsairs offense going on a 8-0 to regain a 69-61 lead in the game. Negron nailed a three-pointer with less than a minute left in the contest to cement UMass Dartmouth's first home win of the season by a final score of 77-69.
DeMeo dropped a season-high 22 points (8-15 FG, 2-5 3FG, 4-4 FT) to go along with four steals, three rebounds, and three assists. Santos also finished the game with 22 points (7-16 FG, 2-5 3FG, 6-6 FT) while also recording three boards and a steal. Oliver posted a career-high seven steals against Emerson while also matching her career-high in points with 12 (4-11 FG, 1-2 3FG, 3-4 FT) on the afternoon. Gresian finished the game with 10 points after going 4-for-9 from the field including a triple (1-5) and 1-for-2 from the charity stripe. She also produced five rebounds, two assists, and two blocks in the versus the Lions. Negron also recorded five rebounds, all on the defensive end, along with three points (1-6 FG, 1-4 3FG), two assists, and a pair of steals. Pruitt registered two blocks as well for the Corsairs in addition to two rebounds.
UMass Dartmouth face Wesleyan University on Sunday, November 23
rd for the final game of the 2025 Lafrance Hospitality Classic scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. from the Tripp Gym.
