Box Score
BOSTON, Mass.—Junior Geanna Williams (Cromwell, Conn.) put together a game-changing fourth quarter, to lead UMass Boston women's basketball past rival UMass Dartmouth 65-60 on Senior Day at the Clark Athletic Center Gymnasium.
THE BASICS
UMass Boston 65, UMass Dartmouth 60
(UMass Boston 18-6, LEC 9-6)
(UMass Dartmouth 14-10, LEC 9-6)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Williams scored six points and added three rebounds and three blocks in the fourth quarter, to help the Beacons sweep the regular-season series against their rivals for the first time since the 2008-09 season. She finished the game with eight points (2-2 FG, 4-4 FT), five rebounds and a game-high four blocks.
Fellow junior Jalani Jackson (Brockton, Mass.) carried the offense through the first three quarters. She tied for the game-high with 24 points and added a game-high five assists to go along with four rebounds and two steals.
Tahajai Mazyck (Hamden, Conn.) tacked on 13 points, while Joie Grassi (Plymouth, Mass.) finished with seven points and 16 rebounds.
Senior Alecia Quinones (Stoughton, Mass.) finished with seven points, four rebounds and two blocks in her 100th career game as a Beacon.
UMass Dartmouth sophomore guard Jordan Moretti paced the visitors with 24 points, to go along with six rebounds and four steals.
Shaelyn Carreiro added 12 points and seven rebounds off the bench and senior guard Ashley Brown racked up two points, 11 rebounds and two steals.
UMass Dartmouth took the lead late in the first quarter (15-10 after the first) and built an eight-point advantage (20-12) just 34 seconds into the second stanza.
Jackson put it on herself to turn the game around. The junior went on a 10-0 run, that included a jumper, a 3-point play, a layup and a deep three. UMass Boston built their lead out to as many as four (29-25), before the Corsairs used a 8-2 run to close the half with a 33-31 advantage.
The Corsairs extended their lead to five early in the second half, only for the Beacons to respond with back-to-back threes from Jamie Staples (Springfield, Mass.) and Grassi.
Grassi kept the momentum going and was the backbone of a 10-4 Beacons run that gave UMass Boston a 50-44 lead with 2:31 to go in the third.
The Corsairs wouldn't go away though, as a Moretti layup with 21 seconds to go in the quarter cut the Beacons lead to 53-52 after 30 minutes.
The two sides were tied or within two points of each other until the final three and a half minutes.
Williams hit a pair of free throws with 3:16 to go to give the Beacons the lead and then after a block and a steal, she hit two more free throws with 1:56 left to make it 62-58 UMass Boston.
After Moretti answered with two free throws of her own, Williams hit a deep two to extend the Beacons lead back to four with 1:06 left.
UMass Dartmouth missed on their next two possessions and Jackson hit one of two with 15 seconds to go to clinch the win.
BY THE NUMBERS
- UMass Boston shot 34.8 percent (23-66) from the field, 26.9 percent (7-26) from distance and 63.2 percent (12-19) from the free throw line.
- The Beacons honored seniors Maia Daugherty (Boston, Mass.), Nicola Webbe (Dorchester, Mass.), Staples and Quinones before the game. This year's senior class tied the 2018 team for the most wins as a class with the victory (69).
- Quinones is only the 11th player in program history to have played in 100 or more career games.
- Jackson has now recorded 20 or more points in three-straight games and nine times this season. With one regular season game to play, she leads the Little East Conference with 15.8 points per game.
- With the win, UMass Boston improves to 30-53 all-time against UMass Dartmouth. The Beacons have won four of the past five meetings and swept the Corsairs for the first time since the 2008-09 season.
- The win also gave the Beacons the inside track for a top-four seed in the LEC Tournament. With a win on Saturday, UMass Boston will lock up a home playoff game on Tuesday night in the LEC Quarterfinals.
WHO'S NEXT
UMass Boston will travel to last-place Plymouth State University on Saturday at 1 p.m. for their regular-season finale.
