WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – Despite a season-high 38-point effort from graduate student
Yasmine Santos, the UMass Dartmouth women's basketball team were bested on the road at Eastern Connecticut State University by a final score of 79-71 from the Geissler Gymnasium on Tuesday evening. The Corsairs are now 1-2 in conference action and 4-8 overall while the Warriors improve to a 2-1 Little East Conference (LEC) mark.
Trailing 3-0 early in the game, Santos finished the opening basket for UMass Dartmouth to cut the deficit to 3-2. The veteran guard continued to power the Corsair offense scoring the next seven straight points to take a 9-8 lead with 5:46 on the clock. After the Warriors pulled away thanks to a 7-0 run, first year guard
Riley Graveline posted her first points with a driving layup to make it 15-11. Senior guard
Melanie DeMeo added a late basket in the paint, but the Warriors closed out the opening quarter leading 18-13.
First year guard
Carly McDonald kicked off the second quarter with a good jumper off the feed from graduate student guard
Kaila Pruitt. Both teams exchanged free throws before Santos finished a jump shot to make it a one possession. The Corsairs generated a 10-0 run featuring eight points from Santos to regain a 32-28 advantage with less than four minutes in the quarter. Senior guard
Kasey Oliver produced her first basket of the evening followed by six more points from Santos. Pruitt finished the second quarter strong after knocking down a triple with just six seconds left to take a 43-34 lead into halftime.
The Warriors took control early in the third quarter, posting 15 unanswered points in the opening four minutes of action, respectively, to reclaim a 49-43 edge. Santos added four points to disrupt Eastern Connecticut State's momentum, but the Warriors maintained a nine-point cushion thanks to a three-pointer from Katelyn Novak with 3:25 on the clock. Senior guard
Cristina Negron and first year guard
Jillian Doherty each finished tough baskets in the paint before DeMeo capped off the quarter with a triple to narrow the Warriors lead down to 62-56 entering the final quarter of the game.
Eastern Connecticut State extended their advantage with a quick seven-point run in the fourth quarter to go ahead 69-56. UMass Dartmouth fought back with an 8-0 run started by a layup from DeMeo and finished off with a Pruitt triple to make it 69-64. DeMeo clipped in a late three-point shot off the assist from Oliver, but Warriors went on to seal the win by a final score of 79-71.
Santos scored a season-high 38 points for UMass Dartmouth after making 12-of-21 shots from the field along with 14 free throws (14-20). She also hauled in a game-high 17 rebounds and recorded two assists and a steal. DeMeo finished the game with 12 points (4-13 FG, 2-5 3FG, 2-2 FT) to go along with four rebounds, two assists, one block, and a steal. Oliver led the team with four assists while Pruitt posted a game-high three blocked shots.
UMass Dartmouth hosts UMass Boston for their next conference tilt on Thursday, January 8
th slated for a 4:00 p.m. start time.
