WELLESLEY, Mass. – The UMass Dartmouth women's basketball team was bested by the University of Hartford, 72-44, in the final day of the Judy Pearson 85' Memorial Tournament on Tuesday afternoon. The Corsairs move to a 4-6 mark on the season while the Hawks improved to a 4-7 overall record.
Graduate student guard
Yasmine Santos gave the Corsairs a 2-0 edge over the Hawks after making two early free throws. Hartford quickly responded with an 11-0 run claim an 11-2 lead with 4:33 left in the opening quarter. Sophomore guard
Elizabeth Gresian finished a jump shot for her first basket of the game, but the Hawks took a 15-4 advantage heading into the second quarter.
First year guard
Jillian Doherty opened the scoring for UMass Dartmouth in the second quarter with a good jumper before classmate
Carly McDonald drained a pair of triples to make it a 17-12 game. Hartford countered with nine straight unanswered points to pull away with a double-digit lead crossing the midway point of the quarter. First year guard
Riley Graveline briefly disrupted the Hawks momentum with a good layup, but Hartford connected nine points together to close out the first half with a 35-14 lead.
Santos opened the scoring in the third quarter with a driving layup off the feed from senior guard
Kasey Oliver. Shortly after, senior guard
Melanie DeMeo posted her first basket in the paint followed by a three-pointer from graduate student guard
Kaila Pruitt to make it 41-21. Oliver went 2-for-2 from the charity stripe for the Corsairs before Doherty added another basket with 2:29 remaining on the clock. With only two seconds left, Pruitt finished the quarter strong by knocking down a late triple, her second in the contest, off the assist from McDonald.
In the final quarter, Pruitt kicked off the scoring with another triple for UMass Dartmouth to make it 56-33. After DeMeo clipped in a pair of free throws, Graveline sank a shot from behind the arc to start an 8-2 run for the Corsairs. DeMeo capped off the run with her own three-point shot bringing the score to 65-43. Despite the late effort in the final minutes, Hartford went on to cement the win by a final score of 72-44 from the Staake Gymnasium.
Pruitt led the squad with nine points after going 3-for-8 from long range to go along with three rebounds and two assists. DeMeo finished the afternoon with seven points (2-6 FG, 1-3 3FG, 2-2 FT) in addition to two assists and one defensive board. Graveline (2-9 FG, 1-5 3FG, 1-2 FT), McDonald (2-6 FG, 2-6 3FG), and Doherty (3-8 FG) all scored six points apiece for the Corsairs. McDonald dished out a team-high three assists while Santos hauled in a team-high five rebounds.
UMass Dartmouth returns to the Tripp Athletic Center on Saturday, January 3rd hosting Bates College for their next non-conference tilt at 3:00 p.m.
