Worcester, MA --- Kelsey Garrity (Somerville, MA) drained 4-of -6 free throws in the second overtime as UMass Dartmouth defeated host WPI 73-71 in a non-conference women's basketball thriller on Wednesday evening.
With the result, the Corsairs remained undefeated (3-0) on the season while the Engineers were dealt their first loss of the 2014-2015 campaign.
UMass Dartmouth, who had trailed by as many as 11 points early in the second half, used a 33-13 spurt to hold a 58-49 advantage with just over three minutes remaining in regulation. The Engineers then rattled 10 straight point, including five by Dani Davis (Granby, CT) and a Rachel Pineda (Shrewsbury, MA) driving layup with 6.5 seconds left to grab a 59-58 lead. After a timeout, the Corsairs found leading scorer Megan Ronaghan (North Attleboro, MA) underneath the basket. She was fouled with just 0.9 seconds and canned the first free throw before missing the second to send the two teams to overtime.
In the first extra session, the Corsairs twice jumped out to a narrow two point advantages but it was WPI that went ahead 65-63 on a Davis jumper with 42.8 seconds left. UMD answered back on the ensuing possession when Alicia Kutil (Franklin, MA) followed her own miss with a bucket with just under six seconds remaining. The Engineers had a pair of chances to win but missed a 3-pointer and then a jumper as time expired.
In the second overtime, each team only mustered one made field goal (UMD 1-for-5, WPI 1-for-4) but the Corsairs forced four WPI miscues while not committing a turnover of their own.
Ronaghan was outstanding for the visitors before fouling out late in the first overtime. The senior connected on 12-of-18 shooting for the floor and buried 5-of-7 from the free throw line en route to a game-best 29 points. Colleen Kane (Arlington, MA) and Garrity both tossed in 11 points whileBeth Castantini (Newburyport, MA) and Kutil each contributed seven. Ronaghan paced the guests on the glass with eight rebounds while Erin Fahey (Salem, MA) grabbed seven boards to go along with six points, four assists, a pair of blocks and two steals.
Davis led the WPI scoring attack with 22 points and 12 rebounds while joining Amaia Gritsko(Milford, CT) with a double-double. Gritsko grabbed 16 rebounds, tied for the most by a WPI player in the last decade (Serena Dubois vs. Wheaton on 1/14/09 and Theresa Logan at Coast Guard on 1/22/11), to go along with 10 points. Jessica Larsen (Poway, CA) and Pineda joined the duo in double figure scoring with 14 and 12 points respectively while Haili Welton (Southbury, CT) filled the stat sheets with seven points, three assists, four rebounds and a steal.
As a team, WPI enjoyed a 53-38 bulge in rebounding but the Corsairs held a 28-16 advantage in points off of turnovers.
Both teams return to action on Saturday afternoon, squaring off against teams for each other's conference. WPI heads to Little East Conference foe Rhode Island College for a 3pm tilt while UMass Dartmouth hosts NEWMAC opponent Coast Guard at 1pm.