by Michaella Lesieur, Staff Writer
UMass Dartmouth ladies know how to take over the court and lead the Corsairs into a four game winning streak, as they competed against Worcester, Salve Regina, Coast Guard and Roger Williams.
The girls took court on November 15, as they took home the title 56-47.
Most notable is the fact that out of eight free throws, they hit seven in the last minute of game, which was the final factor, en route to a sweet season-opening victory for the Lady Corsairs.
The Corsairs were on fire from the start and highlights shine to junior Chelsea Houlihan who leads her team with an astonishing thirteen points.
These points are the to the second-highest total in her UMass Dartmouth career.Likewise, Houlihan scored sixteen at Eastern Connecticut last February.
Sophomore Nakira Examond stole the show with thirteen rebounds to lead our girls, where she too matched her career-high.
Examond is actually picking up where she left off last year as she reached it not once, but twice last season, not to mention the season-opener in 2015.
UMass Dartmouth Corsairs bounced on over to Salve Regina on November 18, taking over the court 71-62, which marked the start of the Fairfield Inn & Suites Tournament Opener, at the Tripp Center.
The game started slow as Salve Regina was in the lead, until Examond took over and made eleven second-half points and rebounded the score.
Senior Rachel McCarron and Houlihan knew where it was at as they rounded off the team in double-digits, as each girl completed with a great 10 points. Overall, McCarron carried out five assists while Houlihan carried out six.
Our girls are officially the winners of not just one, two or three straight wins against the Seahawks, but seven, dating back to the year of 2011.
Sophomore Kailyn Milligan has a lot to be proud of as she finished with her all time career-high of nine points on 4 of 6 shooting, as well as senior Adi Alicea-Cordero who also took a career-high of eight points with three steals.
Continuing on the road to success the girls established yet another win, on November 19 to Coast Guard, 76-64, sealing the deal and winning the title for the tournament.
The spotlight turns over to senior Rachel McCarron as she was honored with the title of Most Valuable Player.
Her game was spot on as she lead the Corsairs in a 18-point performance.
This is the second year in a row the ladies have beat Coast Guard in the championship game.
The heat was on as one of our own girls completed in two minutes, a 9-0 run in the second quarter, which was accompanied by a steal and layup courtesy of senior Adi Alicia-Cordero. Along with that the team took hold of four Bear turnovers.
This game marked the Corsairs best shooting performances for an early start in the season. The
girls linked together on 31-of-64, which is 48 percent of the chances given.
Our ladies did not want to stop there before going home to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday, they wrapped up the four game winning streak, to Roger Williams on November 22, with a score of 64-61
Junior Alicia Kutil was on fire from the start as she scored 10 points in the first quarter. In just fifteen minutes the team beat the Hawks 16-6 in the paint.
During the game Kutil went 7-of-7 from the foul line along with an added nine boards, while she also reached her previous career high of a beautiful 21 points. If that is not enough, she has met that total twice.
One fun fact is the team started off the season 4-0 for the third straight year, now that is something to be proud of.
Keep up the great work UMass Dartmouth girls basketball. You can catch the ladies in action and come cheer them on at their next home game, on Thursday November 8, against Keene State at 6:00 p.m.
Go Lady Corsairs!