Little East Conference Championship - Quarterfinal Round
UMass Dartmouth Upends Southern Maine in OT 61-58

            GORHAM, Maine -- Senior Beth Castantini (Newburyport, Mass.) and junior Megan Ronaghan (North Attleboro, Mass.) combined for 37 points, including 12 in overtime, to give the fifth-seeded University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Corsairs a thrilling, 61-58 victory over the fourth-seeded University of Southern Maine Huskies Tuesday night in a quarterfinal round game of the 2016 Little East Conference Championship Tournament on Fifield Court in the Warren Hill Gymnasium.

            Castantini and Ronaghan scored nine of the Corsairs' 13 points in the fourth quarter, and all 12 in the five-minute overtime period, to give the visitors their second win in four days over the Huskies.  The Corsairs had defeated the Huskies at home in the regular-season finale, 60-48, on Saturday.  Castantini, who had three points in the first half, finished with a game-high 20 points, and Ronaghan had 17.

            USM's senior trio of Gretchen Anderson (Kittery Point, Maine/St. Thomas Aquinas), Ella Ramonas (Portland, Maine/Deering) and Megan Pelletier (Winslow, Maine/Messalonskee) combined for 43 of the Huskies' 58 points.  Anderson led the Huskies with a double-double scoring 17 points and grabbing 15 rebounds.  Ramonas finished with 16 points, and Pelletier added 10 points.

            With her team down three entering the fourth quarter, Castantini quickly tied the game at 39-39 with one of her four three-pointers.  A bucket by junior Rachel McCarron (Groton, Mass./Groton-Dunstable) two minutes later put the visitors up for the first time since the middle of the first quarter, 41-39.

            Ramonas had the next five points with a jumper and a three-pointer to restore the Huskies' three-point advantage.  Two Castantini free throws and two baskets from Ronaghan erased the deficit and gave the Corsairs a three-point edge with 2:37 to play.

            Ramonas came up big again for the Huskies hitting a three-pointer from the top of the key to knot the score at 47-47.  A basket by rookie Nakira Examond (New Bedford, Mass./New Bedford Regional Voc. Tech.) gave the lead back to the Corsairs with 1:22 to play.

            Sophomore Kayla Stacy (Auburn, N.H./Pinkerton Academy) came up with a huge steal with 31 seconds to give the Huskies a chance to tie.  The second-year guard drove the left side of the lane and put up a left-handed shot that kissed off the glass for the tying bucket.

            UMD had two tries in the final five seconds, but the ball would not fall through the basket and the team headed to overtime.

            In the overtime, Pelletier and Anderson scored to bracket two Ronaghan free throws leaving USM with a 53-51 lead and 3:17 on the clock.  Castantini tied the game with a shot inside, and gave her team a lead with a three-pointer on the Corsairs' next possession.

            Ramonas and Castantini traded baskets before Anderson hit a three-pointer with 40 seconds to play to tie the game at 58-58.  With 21 seconds to play, Ronaghan broke the tie with a jump shot.  After missing a three-point try, the Huskies were forced to foul and Ronaghan iced the decision making one of two free throws.  USM had a last-second, desperation three attempt that would have forced a second overtime period fall short.

            UMass Dartmouth, 18-8 on the season, advances to the semifinal round of the tournament on Friday to face top-seeded Eastern Connecticut State University.  Eastern advanced with its 68-58 win over Plymouth State University.  Southern Maine ends its first season under head coach Samantha Allen at 14-12.

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