UMass Dartmouth Fends Off Women’s Basketball’s Furious Rally

Framingham, Mass. - Freshman Megan Ronaghan (North Attleboro, Mass.) paced all scorers with 21 points to help visiting UMass Dartmouth defeat Framingham State 51-48 in a non-conference women's basketball contest on Thursday evening at Framingham's Athletic Center. With the victory, the Corsairs improve to 10-6 on the season while the Rams, who saw their two-game winning streak snapped, dip to 8-9 overall. 

The visitors scored the first five points and never trailed in the game but had to survive a furious Framingham State rally in the final 38 seconds to claim the victory.  The Rams trailed by 11 points at 51-40 before a traditional 3-point play by rookie Carlee Putnam (Niantic, Conn.) followed by a turnover and a layup by senior Kristen Hoffman (Foxboro, Mass.) during a nine second span sliced the deficit to six  with 29 seconds left.   After Hoffman missed a free throw that would have completed another conventional 3-point play, the hosts gobbled up the rebound and Putnam drained a trifecta with 19 seconds remaining to make it 51-48.   FSU was not in the bonus and fouled four times in the next three seconds before finally sending UMass Dartmouth to the line.  The Corsairs missed the front end of a one-and-one, giving Framingham State a chance to tie the game but sophomore Beth Castantini (Newburyport, Mass.) came up with a steal with four seconds left and the guests were able to run out the clock to secure the win.

Leading 12-9, UMass Dartmouth used 3-pointers from freshman Ashley Brown (Fairhaven, Mass.) and sophomore Colleen Kane (Arlington, Mass.) and a Ronaghan layup to spearhead a 8-0 run that helped the Corsairs take a 29-18 lead into the locker room at the break.

The Corsairs enjoyed a large advantage on the glass, out-rebounding the Rams 55-38. Senior Erika Bornemann (Canton, Mass.) led the charge on the boards with 18 while junior Kelsey Garrity (Somerville, Mass.) chipped in with eight and Ronaghan added six. Brown and Bornemann both tossed in seven points. 

Putnam's late scoring spurt helped her finish with a team-high 11 points. Junior Nicole Bostic (Easton, Mass.) registered eight – including three consecutive layups for the Rams early in the second half while Hoffman finished with seven. Freshman Alycia Rackliffe (Feeding Hills, Mass.) corralled a team-best 10 rebounds.

After enjoying the weekend off due to the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) bye, Framingham State is back on the court Tuesday versus Worcester State at the Hart Recreation Center on the campus of the College of the Holy Cross at 6:30 p.m.  UMass Dartmouth returns to Little East Conference action Saturday, hosting Plymouth State at 1:00 p.m.