DARTMOUTH, Mass. – The nationally ranked No. 21/23 UMass Dartmouth women's basketball team cruised to their 13^th consecutive Little East Conference (LEC) win after defeating UMass Boston, 88-55, on Wednesday evening from the Tripp Athletic Center. The Corsairs move to 13-0 in conference play, and 20-2 overall on the season, while the Beacons dropped to a 5-9 mark in the Little East.  
 
Graduate student forward Carly Whiteside and fifth year guard Kaylin Zalewski each knocked down a triple to open the scoring for the Corsairs to take an early 6-2 lead. Senio Amaris Mills drained her first bucket of the game from long range to extend their advantage to 11-6 with 4:56 on the clock. Zalewski scored the next five points for UMass Dartmouth, but the Beacons kept the score close with the Corsairs
 
After Tatiannah Fevry clipped in both free throws to start the second quarter for UMass Boston, graduate student guard Teja Andrews finished a driving layup for her first bucket of the evening to make it 18-12 Corsairs. UMass Dartmouth's offense then generated a 10-0 run featuring three-pointers from graduate student guard Jane McCauley and Zalewski to pull away with a 28-14 advantage. The Beacons answered quickly with a 6-0 run to narrow the Corsairs lead down to 28-20, entering the last three minutes of the first half. Zalewski clipped in another triple before Whiteside nailed a late three-pointer with seven seconds on the clock to give the home team a double-digit lead at halftime.
 
Junior Melanie DeMeo got the UMass Dartmouth offense going in the third with an early steal and finished with a fastbreak layup. Andrews then started an 8-0 run scoring the initial five points before Whiteside nailed a triple to put the Corsairs ahead 45-26. Midway through the quarter McCauley knocked down a three-pointer before fifth year Jemima Joseph laid in a bucket to extend the Corsairs advantage to 22 points. Andrews posted four points followed by a late layup from Joseph to give UMass Dartmouth a 61-37 cushion entering the final quarter of the contest.
 
Zalewski drilled back-to-back three-pointers in the opening three minutes, respectively, of the fourth to make it a 68-39 game. Shortly after Andrews and Whiteside each laid in a bucket apiece, junior Kasey Oliver clipped in a triple for her first points of the game off the helper from classmate Cristina Negron. The Beacons went on a brief 6-0 run that was disrupted by first year Elizabeth Gresian finishing a driving layup. Oliver banked in her second three-pointer at the 1:00 mark before Andrews laid in the final bucket of the game to seal UMass Dartmouth's victory over the Beacons by a final score of 88-55.
 
Zalewski led the squad with her 24 points going 9-for-14 from the floor highlighted by a game-high six made three-pointers (6-9). She also posted five rebounds, four assists, and a pair of steals in the win. Andrews recorded her third double-double of the season with 18 points (6-16 FG, 6-8 FT) and 10 boards. Whiteside also scored in double figures for the Corsairs with 15 points going 5-for-8 from the field featuring three made three-pointers (3-4) and a perfect 2-for-2 from the line. The veteran forward also recorded five rebounds, two assists, a steal, and a block.  McCauley (2-4 FG, 2-4 3-FG), Joseph (3-12 FG), and Oliver (2-3 FG, 2-2 3-FG) each tallied six points apiece for UMass Dartmouth.
 
UMass Dartmouth are on the road for their next Little East tilt on Saturday, Feb. 15 at the University of Southern Maine. The conference matchup is slated to begin at 1:00 p.m. from the Hill Gym.