MILTON, Mass. – Maine Maritime slipped by Mass.-Dartmouth 57-55 in the first game of the Curry College Tipoff Tournament. The Mariners (2-0) secured the victory on the line, while a failure to cash in on repeated trips to the charity stripe cost the Corsairs (1-1).

Sam Goda (Eliot, Maine) scored the last two of her 15 points at the line with 2:43 left in the game to give Maine Maritime a 56-51 lead. Mass.-Dartmouth hit on three free throws over the next 67 seconds to cut it to 56-54. The Mariners, who failed to connect on a field goal over the final 3:25, provided Colleen Moriarty with a chance to tie it at the line with four seconds left. Moriarty drained the first, but missed on the second. MMA freshman, Bekah Campbell (Corinth, Maine) secured the rebound and was sent to the line at the other end with two seconds left. She hit the first of her pair, sealing the win.

The Mariners hit on 12-of-17 (70.6%) shots at the line, while the Corsairs clicked on 10-of-23 (43.5%) in the game.

Goda and Maggie Smith (Bath Maine) each scored 15 points, whit Goda posting 14 rebounds and four steals. Smith had six boards on the night. The pair combined for a 7-of-7 night on the stripe with Smith going to the line four times. Alexis Bennett (Freedom, Maine) scored 10 for MMA.

Mass.-Dartmouth got a 15-point, 11-rebound night from Moriarty. She went 7-of-17 from the floor, but was 1-of-6 at the line. Kelsey Garrity scored 14 points, while Erika Bornemann contributed 11.

The game was tight throughout with each team taking the lead three times. Both teams extended their lead to nine points, but never opened a double-digit difference. Mass.-Dartmouth owned the first half. Trailing 8-7 with 15:42 left in the first half, Moriarty scored on three of the Corsairs' next four possessions on a five-minute, 10-0 run. Campbell halted the bleeding at the line before a Courtney Dufour (Augusta, Maine) trey made it a five-point game, 17-12, and got the Mariners' offense in rhythm.

The Mariners continued to grind away until Goda knotted it at 25-25 with 3:32 left. She stripped the Corsairs' Bornemann on the next possession leading to a Smith layup to make it 27-25 in favor of MMA. That was the score at the locker room break.

The teams traded leads over the first five minutes of the second stanza. Moriarty gave UMD a 33-32 lead with 14:19 remaining, but that was answered by a Bennett layup that started a 10-0 run for the Mariners before Moriarty finally answered.

MMA still held by nine, 46-37, with 8:48 left in the game, but UMD refused to go away quietly. The Corsairs hit six free throws over the next four minutes, their best stretch at the stripe on the night, and managed to tie it up at 51-51 on a Garrity layup with 4:14 to play.

The Mariners' Sydney Robertson (Barnstead, N.H.) went to the line and hit on the first of two to give Maine Maritime a 52-51 edge. A Goda steal and jumper quickly made it a three-point game. She was hacked on the Mariners' next trip setting up her final points and the late-game drama.

The Mariners return to action tomorrow night in the Curry Tipoff Tourney's Championship Game. MMA will face either Curry or Fitchburg State. An MMA win would mark the Mariners first 3-0 start since the 2006-2007 season.  

MAINE MARITIME 57, MASS.-DARTMOUTH 55

MASS.-DARTMOUTH (1-1)

Colleen Moriarty 7-17 1-6 15; Kelsey Garrity 6-11 2-4 14; Erika Bornemann 3-11 4-6 11; Melissa Daigle 2-9 2-2 6; Stephanie Houtman 1-15 1-2 3; Shannon Singletary 1-5 0-2 2; Kate Griffin 1-1 0-0 2; Tahirah Gibson 1-1 0-0 2; Mykaliah Best 0-0 0-1 0. Totals 22-70 10-23 55.

MAINE MARITIME (2-0)

Sam Goda 6-19 3-3 15; Maggie Smith 5-11 4-4 15; Alexis Bennett 5-13 0-2 10; Courtney Dufour 2-4 2-2 8; Bekah Campbell 1-2 2-4 4; Brittany Green 2-2 0-0 4; Sydney Robertson 0-0 1-2 1; Jillian Perron 0-1 0-0 0; Casey Everest 0-0 0-0 0; Crystal Clark 0-0 0-0 0; Kari Jones 0-0 0-0 0; Jill Lavallee 0-1 0-0 0; Brittany Gallagher 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-53 12-17 57.

Mass.-Dartmouth            25           30           55

Maine Maritime               27           30           57

3-point goals--Mass.-Dartmouth 1-9 (Erika Bornemann 1-2; Melissa Daigle 0-2; Stephanie Houtman 0-5), Maine Maritime 3-7 (Courtney Dufour 2-3; Maggie Smith 1-3; Jill Lavallee 0-1).

Fouled out--Mass.-Dartmouth-None, Maine

Maritime-None. Rebounds--Mass.-Dartmouth 50 (Colleen Moriarty 11), Maine Maritime 41 (Sam Goda 14).

Assists--Mass.-Dartmouth 9 (Stephanie Houtman 4), Maine Maritime 9 (Courtney Dufour 2; Alexis Bennett 2).

Total fouls--Mass.-Dartmouth 18, Maine Maritime 21.

Technical fouls--Mass.-Dartmouth-None, Maine Maritime-None.