Kelsey Garrity's next game will be the 100th of her career at Mass-Dartmouth, and her 99th career start. Mass-Dartmouth athletics photo

The UMass Dartmouth women’s basketball team has been consistently treading on new ground the last few years. This year, at 16-5 overall and 8-2 in the Little East Conference, the Corsairs have tied their most LEC victories (eight) ever and are in position to tally their highest win total in the program’s 41-year history.

One of the most important pieces over the last three seasons and an irreplaceable part this season has been senior guard Kelsey Garrity. The Sommerville, Mass., product became a 1,000-point scorer — the ninth woman to do so in UMass Dartmouth history — against Rhode Island College on Jan. 29. She reached the milestone by putting up a career-high 26 points while adding a “modest” nine rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks, just for good measure.

Although Garrity was appreciative of her accomplishment, she has gotten somewhat used to a high-achieving team that seems destined to make its mark.

“There’s been moments like that since I’ve gotten here — when we had the first winning season in 19 years when I was a freshman; first 20-win season [and] trip to the LEC championship as a sophomore,” Garrity said by phone last Saturday morning.

Those two seasons — 2011-12 and 2012-13 — were the products of former head coach Amanda Van Voorhis’ tenure. Van Voorhis turned a consistent loser into, now, a consistent winner.

This past fall, Van Voorhis took over as the athletic director of UMass Dartmouth, paving the way for her closest assistant and coaching disciple, Matt Ducharme, to assume the head coaching position. Ducharme, a 2000 graduate of UMass Dartmouth, worked in various capacities at the university — as an admissions counselor and an athletic trainer — before becoming an assistant coach for the women’s basketball team in 2011.

Ducharme has seen first-hand the evolution of the program and how the implemented changes have played out.

“What’s happened, and coach Van Voorhis was a big part of having this happen, is there’s been a culture change over the past [several] years, and I think what we’re seeing this year is actually the fruition of that culture change,” Ducharme said. “Where now, we’re no longer having the previous losing mentality … we’re coming to a point where now we know we can win.”

Going from assistant to head coach is no stroll along Buzzards Bay, but Ducharme has had help during the quick transition from a wise and close source — Garrity.

“I’ve been blessed with very mature and leadership-led team,” Ducharme said. “Kelsey being a senior, she was very helpful. She’s the extension of the coach on the floor. So the transition was, honestly, fairly seamless because of the great players and great personalities, and the way they were able to step up and really take charge.”

This mature and talented team includes senior forward Erin Fahey, who is leading the team in rebounds at 7.8 per game, and junior forward Beth Castantini (10.7 points per game), while sophomore forward Meghan Ronaghan is averaging a team-high 19.7 points and grabbing 7.5 rebounds. And, of course, there’s Ms. Do-it-all Garrity, who is averaging 11.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.7 steals per game and leading the team in assists (at 5.2 per contest).

Even with all the talent the Corsairs have, Garrity is the undoubted leader of the team and a balanced one at that.

“I look to myself as a leader on and off the court,” she said. “On the court, I see myself as a person that [is] basically the floor general — I call the plays, I run the plays, I pick players up off the floor. I think I lead by just the way I play.

“But off the court, many players … have come up to me and talked to me about things they’re having problems with. … I like that role a lot more than the role of the leader on the floor.”

Whether by Ducharme or Garrity, the Corsairs are being led the right way. Over nearly a month (Jan. 8 through Feb. 3), they won nine out of 10 games, seven of which were conference victories, until last Saturday when UMass Dartmouth fell to Southern Maine, 64-60.

UMass Dartmouth is tied with Eastern Connecticut (15-6, 8-2 LEC) for the conference lead, with Southern Maine at third (10-11, 6-4). But the Corsairs will have one more opportunity to distance themselves from each in a meeting this Saturday with the Warriors and a visit to the Anchorwomen’s place next Tuesday.

The Corsairs also have a new mentality.

“We’re winners now,” Ducharme said. “And we have a belief that no matter what happens in a game, there’s still a chance. We believe in each other enough and play for each other enough that we can overcome any deficit and overcome any obstacle.”

While the achievements have been building for the Corsairs, they have never reached the NCAA Tournament. They did make it to the LEC tournament finals in 2013, losing to regular season conference champ Southern Maine. 

But as with any good team, it is defined by the strength of the connections its players and coaches share with one another. Or as Garrity put it, her team is defined by: “Heart.”

“That’s what I believe defines UMass Dartmouth’s women’s basketball — the heart, passion and family we are.”

Anyone who has been around the Corsairs or spoken to them would know that it’s people like Garrity and Ducharme that truly define UMass Dartmouth women’s basketball, and that the program’s success resides in the people it has affected, not in the wins it has amassed.

Levi Barnes the Terrier

While the Thomas Terriers’ record isn’t exemplary (9-12, 7-7 North Atlantic Conference), their starting junior guard Levi Barnes is.

Barnes is fourth on the NCAA Division III men’s basketball scoring list, at 24.2 points per game. In a two-game stretch against New England College (Jan. 31) and Johnson State (Feb. 6), both losses, Barnes scored a mere 70 points on 24 of 37 (64.8 percent) from the field, 8 of 15 (53 percent) from 3-point land and 16 of 21 (76 percent) from the free-throw line.

For the season, the Skowhegan, Maine native is shooting 42.6 percent from the 3-point arc and 85.7 from the stripe.

Barnes has slowly but surely built up his scoring average over his career. He averaged 15.7 ppg his freshman year, 17 his sophomore year and has jumped up seven-plus points this year while also improving his field-goal percentage from 44.6 to 53.4 and his free-throw attempts from 3.4 to 4.7.  

Barnes has scored more than 30 points seven times this season and has scored over 15 in 16 of the 18 games he has played. 

The Terriers are out of NAC regular season contention (and who knows what they could do in the conference tournament), but their supreme leader (in scoring ability) may have some interesting games up his sleeves yet.