WATERVILLE, MAINE—Senior Meg Dixon (Hanover, Mass.) went off for a monster double-double to lead UMass Boston women's basketball to their first win of the season with a 58-51 win over Wellesley College. 
 
THE BASICS
UMass Boston 58, Wellesley 51 
(UMass Boston 1-4) 
(Wellesley 0-4) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Dixon scored a game-high 24 points and nearly doubled her career-high with 19 rebounds to help UMass Boston reach Sunday's Colby College Tip-Off Classic Championship Game. The Beacons will take on the host Mules on Sunday, after Colby (4-0) defeated Colby-Sawyer College 69-44 on Saturday. 
 
The win marks the Beacons first win of the season and the first win for first-year head coach Heather Jacobs since taking over the program. It also marked the first collegiate win for nine of the Beacons' 14 players. 
 
Dixon finished 10-19 from the field, 4-10 from distance and dominated the glass. The 5-10 senior guard pulled down seven offensive rebounds and 19 total. She also added four steals and two blocks in the win. 
 
Sophomores Jasharee Greene (Boston, Mass.) and Sunny Green (Brewster, Mass.) each chipped in 14 points for the Beacons. Greene went 6-14 from the field and tacked on eight rebounds (five offensive) and two steals. Green was just as impressive, as the sophomore recorded a career-high in points and steals (five) and just missed tying her career-high with four rebounds. 
 
Junior Keriann Farina (Arlington, Mass.) was the only other Beacon to score in the win with six points. She tied Cathryn Sullivan (Plymouth, Mass.) for the team lead with four assists. 
 
Anna Greenthal (13 points) and Valentina Morakis (11 points) led Wellesley in the loss. 
 
UMass Boston controlled the opening half and let Wellesley lead for just 34 total seconds. 
 
With the game tied 12-12 late in the first quarter, Dixon canned a 3-pointer and then hit a layup in the final 10 seconds to give the Beacons a 17-14 advantage after one. 
 
Wellesley would fight back to cut it back to a one-point deficit early in the second, only for Dixon and Green to drain back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 25-18 with 7:03 to go in the half. Every time the Blue tried to get back into the game, the Beacons trio of Dixon, Green and Greene would hit another clutch shot, as UMass Boston went into halftime leading 32-25. 
 
Wellesley got back into the game with a stellar defensive third quarter. The Blue used a 7-0 run to begin the quarter to tie the game and would hold the Beacons to just five points in the stanza. A late Green free throw gave UMass Boston a 37-35 edge after three quarters. 
 
UMass Boston would put the game away in the opening 3:33 of the fourth quarter. Green hit a clutch three and Dixon followed with a steal and a lay-in to make it 42-35. Two possessions later, Dixon grabbed her own rebound and hit another layup. After a Wellesley layup, Dixon drained a 3-pointer off a Karla Lopez (Dorchester, Mass.) pass to give the Beacons their largest lead of the season at 47-37 (6:27 to play). 
 
Wellesley cut the deficit to four with 3:03 to play (47-43) but that would be as close as they would get.
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• The Beacons finished the game shooting 38.3 percent (23-60) from the field and 36.8 percent (7-19) from deep. 
• Dixon's double-double was the second of her career. She finished with 21 points and a then career-high 10 rebounds on November 21, 2017 in a 96-79 win over Fisher College. 
• Jordan Gleason (Braintree, Mass.) and Lopez each made their collegiate debuts in the victory. Junior Kaylee Haynes (Braintree, Mass.) made her season debut for UMass Boston. 
• Dixon's 19 rebounds were the most by a Beacons since Raven Kelsey ('18) pulled down 20 rebounds on February 8, 2017 against the University of Southern Maine. 
• With the win, Jacobs earned her first win at UMass Boston and improved to 182-182 for her career as a collegiate head coach. She was the head coach at Division I Wagner University, DII Adelphi University and DIII Daniel Webster College previous to coming to UMass Boston. 
• The Beacons earned a 38-26 edge in rebounding and a 14-5 lead in offensive rebounds.   
• UMass Boston improved to 2-0 all-time against Wellesley. The two teams also met on March 4, 1995 (60-47 UMass Boston). 

WHO'S NEXT 
 
UMass Boston will take on host Colby College on Sunday at 4 p.m. in the Colby College Tip-Off Classic Championship Game.