DANBURY, Conn. – Despite a game-high 24 points from graduate student
Yasmine Santos, the UMass Dartmouth women's basketball team shouldered a tough 77-73 loss at WestConn in Little East action on Saturday. The Wolves move to 10-15 and 5-11 in conference play, while the Corsairs slip to 10-15 and 7-9 in the LEC.
The Corsairs secured the fifth seed in the upcoming Little East Conference Tournament and will travel to fourth-seeded UMass Boston on Tuesday. Game time will be at 6pm.
UMass Dartmouth, which owned a 42-33 at halftime, saw the homestanding Wolves battle back in, closing the gap to 46-42 on a pair of free throws by Malaysia Dingle with 5:57 remaining in the third quarter. The Corsairs continued to maintain the lead, but a jumper from Sara Macary saw the advantage slip to one (53-52) with 1:19 on the clock.
Santos sank a layup with 39 seconds left, pushing the margin to 57-52, but three straight free throws and a last second jumper by Leana Heitmann saw the game tied, 57-all heading into the final quarter of play.
Fourth quarter action opened with two quick WestConn buckets as the home squad took a 61-57 lead on a Macary layup at 8:36. Santos countered on the other end for UMD, but a 6-0 run for the Wolves saw the gap widen to 67-59 at the 5:28 mark.
A pair of free throw makes from senior guard
Kasey Oliver and a bucket with four straight successful free throws by Santos saw the margin move to 69-67 with 2:49 left on the clock. Senior guard
Cristina Negron nailed a pair of free throws and Santos connected on another bucket to tie the game at 73-all with 59 seconds to play, but a Macary layup and a pair of last second free throws saw the final margin.
Santos finished with 24 points, going a near-perfect 12-of-14 from the free throw line, while adding a team-high nine rebounds with an assist and a steal. Senior guard
Melanie DeMeo posted 18 points with four boards, three assists and two steals as grad student guard
Kaila Pruitt added eight points with five rebounds, two assists and two blocks.
