DARTMOUTH, Mass. – The UMass Dartmouth women's basketball team came back from a 17-point deficit to defeat Roger Williams University, 78-71, in non-conference action on Tuesday night from the Tripp Athletic Center. It marks the third consecutive victory of the season for the Corsairs who move to 3-3 overall while the Hawks fell to a 4-3 record.
The Hawks jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead in the opening two minutes of action before senior guard
Kasey Oliver finished a driving layup to put the Corsairs on the scoreboard. Graduate student guard
Yasmine Santos went on a five-point run to tie the score up at 7-all before senior guard
Melanie DeMeo laid in her first bucket of the night to give the home team a 9-7 edge. At the 3:15 mark, graduate student
Kaila Pruitt knocked down a three-point shot from DeMeo to go ahead 12-7 in the contest. Santos and Oliver each tacked on a late basket to end the first quarter knotted up at 18-apiece.
Pruitt started the second quarter strong after clipping in a shot from distance to put UMass Dartmouth up 21-20. The Hawks generated an 8-0 run to regain a 28-23 advantage approaching the midway point of the quarter. DeMeo briefly disrupted the visitor's momentum with a good triple, but the Hawks soon took off with a seven-point run to take their first double-digit lead of the night. Despite good baskets from first years
Amanda Ebenezer and
Riley Graveline in the closing minutes of the half, Roger Willaims held on to a 41-30 lead heading into halftime.
Trailing 46-30 early in the third quarter, sophomore guard
Elizabeth Gresian knocked down a shot from behind the arc to make it 46-33. UMass Dartmouth soon took control of the game thanks to a 14-0 run to narrow Roger Williams advantage down to just three points. During the run, Santos went 6-for-6 from the free throw while Negron and first year
Carly McDonald each clipped in a three-pointer.
UMass Dartmouth capitalized early from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter going 9-for-10 from the line including six points from Santos. With 5:19 on the clock, Negron drained a three-point shot off the feed from DeMeo to make it a one possession game. The Corsairs continued to battle, going on a 7-0 run highlighted by another triple from Negron to tie the score up at 66-apiece.
Negron sank her third three-pointer of the quarter to regain a 69-68 lead, marking the first lead of the game for UMass Dartmouth since the second quarter. The Corsairs once again executed from the free throw line, making six consecutive free throws to extend their advantage to 75-68. DeMeo picked off a Hawks pass late in the game before finishing two good free throws to seal the Corsairs comeback victory by a final score of 78-71.
Santos dropped her third 20-plus point performance of the season after scoring a team-high 12 points (3-8 FG) including 14-of-16 shots made from the free throw line as well as one triple (1-1). She also finished the contest with eight rebounds, one assist and a steal. DeMeo also posted double figures with 16 points (4-12 FG, 1-1 3FG, 7-8 FT) to go along with five assists, two steals, and a rebound. Negron produced a career-high four three-pointers (4-5) for UMass Dartmouth to close out the game with 12 points.
Pruitt scored eight total points for the Corsairs featuring two triples (2-3) and a pair of free throws in addition to two blocks and one board. Gresian hauled in 10 total rebounds, marking her second 10-board game of the year, while also adding six points, one assist, and a steal.
UMass Dartmouth begins Little East Conference (LEC) play on Wednesday, December 3 at Rhode Island College and is set for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff.
