DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Freshman forward Alicia Kutil came off the bench to score 13 points to power the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth women's basketball team to a 56-48 Little East Conference victory over Eastern Connecticut State University in a battle of  conference co-leaders Saturday at the Tripp Athletic Center.

With the win, UMass (17-6, 9-3 LEC) moves into sole possession of first place in the conference with two regular-season games remaining and drops Eastern (15-8, 8-4 LEC) into a two-way tie for second with the University of Southern Maine.  With the victory, UMass avenges a 64-41 loss to Eastern a month ago at Geissler Gymnasium.

Eastern shot just over 20 percent for the second straight LEC loss, finishing at 23.4 percent against the Corsairs, including 17.4 percent on 23 three-point field goal attempts.

Picked for fourth in the LEC pre-season poll, the Corsairs established a new program high with nine Little East wins, surpassing the previous standard set by the 2014 and 2013 squads.

Senior guard Kelsey Garrity of UMD led all players with 19 points on 8-for-11 field goals and 3-for-3 from the foul line. Sophomore guard Jordyn Nappi (Southington) came off the bench for a team-high 12 points for Eastern, with senior guard Kristina Forsman (Newington) adding 11 points and sophomore guard Julia DePoi (Brookfield) adding ten.  Junior forward Jill Ritrosky (Pittsfield, MA) had nine points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Senior guard Taylor McBride (Willimantic) contributed five assists and four rebounds.

Nappi accounted for 12 of the team's 14 bench points. She missed nine of 12 field goals but responded with 6-for-7 from the foul line.

In the earlier win over UMD, Ritrosky had 14 points and 16 rebounds and Forsman a season-high 22 points and the Warriors limited and Kutil and Garrity to a combined seven points on 3-for-14 shooting.

In a closely-contested first half that featured six ties and neither team holding a lead greater than two possessions.  UMass Dartmouth scored six consecutive points, capped by a jumper from six-foot sophomore forward Megan Ronaghan to take its largest advantage of the first half, 20-15.  The Warriors responded with a 6-0 surge of their own over the next three minutes to regain their advantage.  The Corsairs sandwiched a pair of traditional three-point plays between a DePoi trifecta to take a 27-26 lead into the locker room. 

UMass had to battle foul trouble in the second half as Garrity was sent to the bench with her fourth just three minutes into the period.  The Corsairs began to run their offense through the low blocks and Ronaghan responded with six of the hosts' next eight points to push UMass Dartmouth's lead to 37-34.   However, Ronaghan was whistled for her fourth foul with still 12 minutes left, forcing the Corsairs to play without their two leading scorers.

After Eastern cut its deficit to two points, UMD sophomore Rachel McCarron drained her only three-pointer of the afternoon.  Following a stop at the defensive end of the court, Kutil knocked down a jumper to force the visitors into a timeout and stretch the Corsairs lead to 42-37 with 10:40 remaining in regulation.

UMass Dartmouth utilized a 10-2 run to extend its advantage to double digits for the first time, 52-42.  Senior forward Erin Fahey keyed the surge with four points, while Garrity came off the bench to cap the surge with a jumper.  The Warriors trimmed their deficit to six points, 54-48, but Garrity registered the final two points of the contest from the stripe.

Eastern visits Western Connecticut State University Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. and closes out the regular season by hosting the University of Southern Maine next Saturday at 1 p.m. in an LEC game.