WORCESTER, Mass. – UMass-Dartmouth's junior forward, Megan Ronaghan (North Attleboro, Mass.) scored a game-high 28 points to help the Corsairs climb past the Worcester State University Lancers Thursday evening in non-conference play. With the win, the Corsairs slide up to 7-0, while the Lancers fall to 3-4 on the season.
In addition to Ronaghan's 28 points, she smoothed out six rebounds, a game-high three blocks, and a steal on the evening. Senior guard, Beth Castantini (Newburyport, Mass.) also scored in double digits for the Corsairs, totaling 13 points. Freshman forward, Nakira Examond (New Bedford, Mass.), was just under the double digit mark with nine points and a team-high seven rebounds.
Worcester State started the game out with the lead off a jumper from freshman forward, Kaitlyn Berkel (Waterford, Conn.). Then, UMass Dartmouth's Ronaghen and sophomore guard, Chelsea Houlihan (Wolcott, Conn.) went on a 8-0 run to increase the Corsairs' lead to six just four minutes into the game. The Lancers' sophomore guard, Brianna Hackett (Hollis, N.H.), scored four points within the next minute to tighten the gap, but the Corsairs went on a 11-5 bender to make the score 22-11 going into the second quarter.
The teams battled in the second quarter, as shots were fired back-and-forth on each side. Worcester State was able to keep the score even with the Corsairs as UMass Dartmouth added 14 points in the quarter, and Worcester State had 13 points to make it a 36-24 game at the half.
UMass Dartmouth came out strong in the third quarter, as they went on a 10-0 spree before the Lancers were able to get a shot up from Kate Surprenant (Pelham, N.H.) five minutes in. The Corsairs ran the score up to 53-29 until the Lancers came through with good free-throw shots from Natasha Gonzalez (Milford, Mass.), TaNajia Smith (S. Windsor, Conn.), and Hackett to end the third period with a 59-36 score in the Corsairs' favor.
In the fourth quarter, the Lancers held the Corsairs to only six points, while they tallied up 14 (12 in the paint) points to result in the 65-50 win for UMass Dartmouth.
UMass Dartmouth went a perfect 13-for-13 from the free throw line, while the Lancers went 11-for-15. In addition to free throw percentages, the Corsairs also held the advantage over the Lancers in field goal and 3-point field goal percentage throughout the entirety of the game.
Worcester State's Herring led the team with a team-high 12 points and six rebounds. Hackett scored nine points, while Suprenant and Smith each put up eight apiece. Berkel added in seven points and recorded a game-high eight rebounds against the Corsairs.
The Lancers will have a week off from competition, before returning to the court on Dec. 11 when they will face up against Springfield on the campus of WPI. The Corsairs return to action this Saturday (Dec. 5) when they will travel to Keene State for their second conference matchup of the season.