Box Score DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Led by four double-digit scorers, the top-seeded University of Massachusetts Dartmouth withstood the balanced offense of No. 4 Eastern Connecticut State University and eliminated the Warriors, 76-63, in the semifinals of the Little East Conference women's basketball tournament Friday night at the Tripp Athletic Center.
Coming off an 85-76 first-round victory Tuesday at home against No. 5 Western Connecticut, Eastern (12-15) had its bid for a fourth straight – and 18th overall -- LEC tournament championship game appearance dashed. UMass (24-3), now 16-0 in the LEC this year (14-0 regular-season, 2-0 tournament) after its 13th straight win, advances to just its second tournament championship in program history. The Corsairs host No. 2 UMass Boston (24-3) Saturday at 4 p.m. in the title game.
Senior Alicia Kutil's led UMD to its 14th home win in 15 tries with her 12th double-double of the season on 22 points and 15 rebounds. Classmate Leah Douty added 17 to the scoring, drilling a pair of three-pointers as part of her 6-of-8 shooting (75%).
Sophomore guard Julie Jordan (Sterling) registered a double-double (12/10) for Eastern and sophomore forward Mya Villard (Cromwell) had 22 points on 9-of-14 efficiency.
Each side struggled out of the gate, with the Corsairs and Warriors shooting lowly percentages of just 16.7 and 33.3, respectively. Douty supplied the offense with five in the early going, helping provide the 11-9 Corsair cushion at the end of the first.
Douty then opened the second quarter continuing her offensive pace, taking the hand-off from junior Jamie Williams and drilling the mid-range jumper. Sophomore Kayla McMahon contributed to the scoring on the next trip down the floor as her three-pointer from the right wing was set up by the cross-court pass from senior Chelsea Houlihan.
The Warriors brought it back to a four-point game at 16-12 via Villard's up-and-under move below the basket deeked Kutil to finish the lefty layup. With three minutes to go, sophomore Ashley Brown went on a personal hot streak, encoring her made basket with a steal on the defensive end and finishing the field goal through contact for the and-one. Junior forward Kelsey Santagata (Stamford) paired up with Villard to each pour in a bucket to cut into the deficit, but had been answered by another McMahon three with thirty seconds remaining in the half.
Eastern responded with high energy out of the break, scoring six straight to cut the score to 40-33 on a run led by Santagata, Villard, and sophomore guard Sabrina LeMere (North Branford). After a Corsair timeout, the hosts regained their composure; Douty utilized a wraparound pass to find Kutil on the low-block to answer a Santagata three. Eastern senior guard Kelly Reardon (Holyoke, MA) grabbed an offensive rebound with three minutes on the clock, scooping a pass to Villard for an uncontested layup to bring the game to 48-40. In the final fourt-five seconds of the penultimate frame, Douty converted on a layup through the hard foul to put the Corsairs back up by eight.
The Warriors clawed their way throughout the fourth with an efficient 50 percent shooting, keeping the contest within ten, but UMass Dartmouth maintained its fast-paced offense to wear out the Eastern Connecticut squad that limited its rotation to primarily six players. The visitors traded baskets with the Corsairs but could not overcome their shooting woes – 35.5% on the evening – to close the gap.
In the season-series against Eastern, the Corsairs swept both games, 83-75, and 78-62.
