GORHAM, Maine – The nationally ranked No. 21/23 UMass Dartmouth women's basketball team saw their 14-game winning streak snapped by the University of Southern Maine on Saturday afternoon in Little East Conference (LEC) play by a final score of 74-68 from the Hill Gymnasium. The Corsairs are now 13-1 in the Little East with the loss to the Huskies who move to a 10-4 LEC record.
Graduate student captain
Teja Andrews opened the scoring after finishing a quick layup for UMass Dartmouth just 11 seconds into the game. After the Huskies took a 7-4 lead, junior
Melanie DeMeo posted her first points of the contest with a good jumper to make it 7-6. Liz Cote knocked down a pair of triples to regain a 13-8 edge for Southern Maine approaching the last four minutes of the first quarter. Andrews evened the score up at 13-apeice after making a free throw with 2:35 on the clock, but the Huskies headed into the second with an 18-15 lead.
Shorty after the Huskies jumped out to a 22-16 edge early in the second quarter, fifth year captain
Jaelyn Lavigne drained a three-pointer to cut Southern Maine's lead down to 22-19. At the 5:24 mark, graduate student
Carly Whiteside scored her seventh point of the afternoon with a good layup. Fifth year
Kaylin Zalewski finished an and-one play after Jade Smedberg committed the foul to make it 32-28 Huskies with 2:21 left in the first half. Senior
Amaris Mills laid a bucket to bring the Corsairs within two points, however Southern Maine outscored UMass Dartmouth 5-1 to take a 37-31 lead at halftime.
DeMeo clipped in a three-pointer off the assist from Andrews to get the offense going in the third quarter. A few minutes later, Whiteside finished an and-one play to tie the game up at 39-apiece before knocking down a triple to give the Corsairs a 42-39 lead. Mills extended UMass Dartmouth's advantage to 50-41 after sinking a pair of three-pointers, bringing her to nine points on the afternoon. Southern Maine fought back late in the quarter, going on a 9-0 run to tie the score at 50-apiece entering the final quarter of the contest.
Both teams exchanged early buckets to start the fourth before DeMeo banked in a three-pointer off the feed from Mills to put UMass Dartmouth up 56-52. The Huskies soon responded by generating a 7-0 run highlighted by two triples from Dakota Shipley to give the home team a one-point edge. Whiteside scored the next five points, going 3-for-3 from the line, to put the Corsairs ahead 65-61 with 4:07 on the clock. Lucy Wiles gave Southern Maine a one point advantage after scoring five straight points. The Huskies secured the victory after outscoring the Corsairs 8-1 in the final minute of the game to hand UMass Dartmouth their first conference loss of the season.
Whiteside led the team with 24 points going 7-for-15 from the floor for a 46.6 shooting percentage featuring one made three-pointer (1-1) and 9-for-10 from the charity stripe. She also hauled in nine rebounds and posted two blocks. Andrews ended the contest with 12 points (5-13 FG, 2-6 FT) to go along with three assists, one rebound, one steal, and a block. Mills also scored double figures with 11 points (4-12 FG, 2-7 3-FG, 1-3 FT) recording seven boards, four assists, and a team-high three steals.
The Corsairs travel to Keene State College for their next LEC showdown on Wednesday, Feb. 19. The league game is scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. start time from the Spaulding Gymnasium. To purchase tickets for the women's basketball contest at Keene State, click the link
HERE.
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