DARTMOUTH, Mass. – In a battle between two rivals with perfect Little East Conference (LEC) records, junior Nakira Examond (New Bedford, Mass.) tallied her eighth double-double of the season to lead the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth to a 79-49 victory over UMass Boston on Wednesday night at the Tripp Athletic Center. 

The Basics

Score: UMass Dartmouth 79, UMass Boston 49

Records: UMass Dartmouth (12-3, 6-0 LEC) | UMass Boston (14-2, 5-1 LEC)

How it Happened

UMass Boston freshman Shania Osborne (Fairfield, Conn.) paced the visitors with 11 points, with classmate Niyera Mitchell (Easton, Mass.) contributing seven points and five boards off the bench. Examond stuffed the stat sheet for her squad, posting 24 points, 13 rebounds, an assist, a steal, and a pair of blocks. Sophomore Ashley Brown (Fairhaven, Mass.) trailed close behind with 15 points and seven boards.

Brown promptly got the Corsair offense rolling, drilling a three-pointer from the left wing and then following up with a running layup on a drive against the grain. The Beacons found themselves in foul trouble early, yielding more Corsair free throw attempts (11) than field goal attempts (9) in the opening period.

To begin the second quarter, the freshmen pairing of Joie Grassi (Plymouth, Mass.) and Shania Osborne (Fairfield, Conn.) teamed up for a layup as the former fed the latter under the basket. With three minutes remaining, UMass Dartmouth junior Kailyn Milligan (Lakeville, Mass.) turned defense into offense, blocking a Beacon layup attempt and racing down to the other end for the solo finish on the fastbreak. Heading into the intermission, the Corsairs restricted the opponent to just 26.5% shooting while the hosts converted at a 60% clip.

After halftime, Examond passed out of a double-team to teammate Alicia Kutil (Franklin, Mass.), who netted a corner three. Minutes later, senior Chelsea Houlihan (Wolcott, Conn.) swiped a Beacon pass and then drained her free throws after a foul, extending the hosts advantage to 53-32. Junior Danyel Gonzalez (Pawtucket, R.I.) fed freshman Lauren Empey(Middleboro, Mass.) for a layup in the waning seconds to put the exclamation mark on the home victory for the Corsairs.

Inside the Numbers

• UMass Dartmouth made and attempted a new season-high at the free-throw line, going 24-for-34.
• Beacon first-year Osborne shot a perfect 5-for-5 from the field.
• The hosts buckled down on defense, allowing the visitors to hit just 27.7% of their shots.
• With the win, the Corsairs extend their program-best conference record to 6-0.

Up Next

The Corsairs remain home for their third straight home game, facing off against Plymouth State on Saturday, Jan. 20 at 1 p.m. UMass Boston will host Keene State at the same date, same time.