Fast Start Sends UMass Dartmouth Past Wellesley Basketball, 66-35

WELLESLEY, Mass. – Sophomore Nakira Examond (New Bedford, Mass.) scored a career-high 25 points and grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds to lead visiting UMass Dartmouth to a 66-35 non-conference victory over Wellesley College basketball on Thursday afternoon at Gracia Mangano Martore '73 Court. 

The Corsairs improve to 8-2 overall, and 7-1 in non-conference action with the victory over the Blue. Wellesley is now 3-1 in non-conference games and 3-5 overall on the season.

Examond was a perfect 7-for-7 from the floor in the game's opening half. She was joined in double-figures by junior guard Leah Douty (Framingham, Mass.), as Douty went 4-for-7 from the floor to finish with ten points. Senior Adi Alicea-Cordero (Dorchester, Mass.) chipped in with eight points off the bench. UMass Dartmouth finished with 17 assists on 24 made field goals, with junior forward Alicia Kutil (Franklin, Mass.) leading the way with seven helpers. Kutil also grabbed seven boards, while recording two steals and a block.

Senior Ailis Hanley (Cranston, R.I.) was the high-scorer for the Blue, finishing with eight points in 22 minutes. First year Keer Sun (Pine Brook, N.J.) added six points and a team-high four rebounds, while classmates Kendall You Mak (San Francisco, Calif.) and Emily Kopp (King Ferry, N.Y.) each totaled three steals. 

The Corsairs opened the game on an 11-0 run before Hanley scored the first Wellesley basket with a jumper at 6:05. UMass Dartmouth followed Hanley's jumper with a 12-0 run to finish the opening stanza with a 23-2 lead. Examond scored 12 of her game-high 25 in the opening frame, while also grabbing seven rebounds.

UMass Dartmouth carried their 21-point lead into the half, as Wellesley closed out the second quarter with a 6-0 flurry to turn a 36-10 deficit with 1:48 to play into a 36-15 Corsairs advantage at the break. 

Wellesley opened the third quarter with a bucket from Kopp but managed just five more points in the period, as UMass Dartmouth outscored the Blue 10-7 in the opening ten minutes of the second half to take a 46-22 lead to the fourth. The Corsairs would go on to take their largest lead of the afternoon when sophomore Jamie Williams (Lone Tree, Colo.) knocked down a triple to make the score 64-30 with 3:25 to play.

UMass Dartmouth shot 46 percent (24-for-52) from the field while limiting Wellesley to just 22 percent (12-for-54) shooting in the contest. The Corsairs also had a sizable advantage on the glass, out-rebounding the Blue by a 51-21 margin. 

Wellesley will host Salisbury University tomorrow, Friday, December 30, at 1:00 PM. UMass Dartmouth will head across town to take on Babson College tomorrow at 2:00 PM.