DARTMOUTH, Mass. – The nationally ranked No.24/RV UMass Dartmouth women's basketball team punched their ticket to the 2025 Little East Conference (LEC) Championship after defeating Keene State College, 66-54, in the LEC Semifinals on Thursday night. The Corsairs, who move to a 22-4 overall record, advance to the LEC championship game for the third time in the last four seasons and will host the University of Southern Maine at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 1 from the Tripp Athletic Center.
UMass Dartmouth got to work early in the opening quarter of the game, going on an 11-0 run that was powered by graduate student captain
Teja Andrews with four points and seven points from graduate student forward
Carly Whiteside. The Owls tacked on four late points just before the end of the first quarter to make it an 11-4 game, however graduate student guard
Jane McCauley kicked off the second quarter by draining her first triple of the night.
Brynn Rautiola soon answered for Keene State knocking down three shots from behind the arc to bring the visitors within three points of the Corsairs. Whiteside tacked on four more points before senior guard
Amaris Mills laid in her first bucket of the contest to put UMass Dartmouth ahead 24-17 with 3:08 on the clock. Ruby Dasaro clipped in five points for the Owls to once again narrow the Corsairs advantage to 25-22. Mills finished a driving layup followed by two made free throws to give the home team a 31-27 edge heading into halftime.
Fifth year guard
Kaylin Zalewski cam alive in the third quarter scoring the opening 11 points for UMass Dartmouth highlighted by three straight triples to pull the Corsairs away with a 13 point advantage. After Valerie Luizzi laid in a bucket for the Owls, fifth year captain
Jaelyn Lavigne finished three free throws for the Corsairs to entre the final quarter of the game with a 47-33 lead.
Keene State started the fourth by going on a 6-2 run in the first two minutes of play to make it 49-39 game. Zalewski responded by scoring seven of the next eight points for UMass Dartmouth finished off with a good three-pointer to put the Corsairs up by 15 points with 5:45 left in the game. After Rautiola clipped in a three-pointer, Zalewski sank a triple of her own to maintain a 57-42 advantage over Keene State.
Both teams exchanged free throws with under four minutes remaining, respectively, in the contest until Rautiola drained a three-pointer to cut Corsairs lead down to nine points. Whiteside answered for UMass Dartmouth by starting a 7-0 run that was finished off by an and-one play from junior guard
Kasey Oliver. The Owls tacked on a pair of late buckets in the last minute of the game, but UMass Dartmouth sealed their ticket to the 2025 LEC Championship game with a 66-54 win over Keene State.
Whiteside paced the Corsairs with her 21-point effort making 7-of-9 shots from the floor, going 1-for-2 from behind the arc, and a perfect 6-of-6 from the line. She also hauled in nine rebounds and recorded one block in the win. Zalewski ended the night with 20 points going 7-of-11 from the field featuring four triples (4-5) and a pair of free throws (2-2) to go along with nine boards, two steals, one assist, and a block. Andrews also scored in double figures with 10 points (3-11 FG, 4-6 FT) grabbing nine rebounds and posting a team-high three steals.
UMass Dartmouth will host the University of Southern Maine for the 2025 Little East Conference Championship on Saturday, March 1. The championship game is set for a 1:00 p.m. tipoff from the Tripp Athletic Center.
