BOSTON, Mass.  –  Senior forward Paige Ollivierre recorded a season-high 16 points on 4-of-9 shooting from three-point range and 5-for-13 shooting overall for UMass Boston Women's Basketball, but a late run in the closing minutes for UMass Dartmouth helped the visitors down the Beacons on Wednesday night, 82-75, in a Little East Conference matchup inside the Clark Athletic Center.

THE BASICS

UMass Boston 75, UMass Dartmouth 82

UMass Boston (8-8, 1-5 LEC)

UMass Dartmouth (9-6, 5-1 LEC)

HOW IT HAPPENED

An early technical foul for the Corsairs led to two free throws for graduate forward Meg Dixon, spurring an 8-2 run to start the game for UMass Boston, led by four points from junior transfer forward Alexah Potter. UMass Dartmouth would attempt to punch back, but the Beacon lead remained intact for over eight minutes of the first quarter. That would be when the Corsairs embarked on a 6-0 run with junior guard Teja Andrews scoring four of her nine first quarter points in that span. A layup from Ollivierre in the closing seconds helped break the run and allow UMass Boston to hold a 17-16 edge into the second quarter.

The Corsairs would open on a 7-0 run and lead by as many as six points after a three from graduate guard Jordan Moretti, the team's leading scorer. But trailing 23-17, UMass Boston would respond with a 9-2 run to retake the lead by one with 4:27 left in the first half. The teams would battle back and forth to finish off the first half with momentum shifting the way of the Beacons who, with the game tied at 31, went on a 6-2 run over the final 1:27 of the half, highlighted by a layup before the buzzer from freshman guard Sibayla Jensen to put UMass Boston in front 37-33 heading into the locker room.

It was a quarter of runs for both sides as the Beacons extended their edge to seven to kick off the third before a responding 6-0 run by the Corsairs cut that UMass Boston lead down to one, 40-39. A pair of free throws from freshman guard Melanie DeMeo gave UMass Dartmouth their first lead of the second half and a jumper from Andrews extended that lead to three points, 45-42.

Yet again, the Beacons came back, this time with a 10-0 run led by Dixon and Potter to tie UMass Boston's largest lead to that point at seven points. However, another run in response from the Corsairs, a 7-0 burst, brought the game even at 52 all before two free throws from Ollivierre sent the Beacons into the final quarter of play with a two-point lead, 54-52.

Five points from graduate guard Jessica Carroll and four points from junior guard Kaylin Zalewski led the charge for an 11-3 start to the fourth quarter for the Corsairs, tying their largest lead of the game at six points, 63-57, and forcing a UMass Boston timeout with 6:38 left in regulation. That lead would balloon to 11 points just under a minute later after a three from Zalewski, 70-59, but the relentless Beacons would continue to fight back.

Slowly chipping away, an Ollivierre three started a 13-4 run over the next two minutes and change, trimming the Beacon deficit down to two with 3:04 to go, 74-72. But the dagger would come from Moretti, staring down the UMass Boston defense and hitting her first of two threes in the final two minutes for UMass Dartmouth, as the Corsairs pulled away to down the Beacons 82-75 at the Clark Athletic Center.
 
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Alexah Potter finished with her second double-double of the season, recording a team-high 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting and 10 rebounds
• Meg Dixon had her sixth double-double, recording 16 points and 13 rebounds  
• UMass Dartmouth made their first 16 free throws of the game, finishing 19-of-25 on the evening
• Kaylin Zalewski led the way for UMass Dartmouth with 21 points and 10 rebounds

WHO'S NEXT
UMass Boston finishes off their two-game homestand on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 PM with a matchup against Keene State College inside the Clark Athletic Center. The two teams split their two-game set last year with both sides winning their matchup on the road.