DARTMOUTH, Mass. -- Brandeis junior guard Kasey Dean (Southbury, Conn./Pomperaug) scored in double figures for the second-straight game with 12 points, but she was the only Judge with 10 points as host UMass Dartmouth closed the game on an 8-2 run to escape with a 50-49 non-conference women's basketball victory tonight. The Judges fall to 3-4 with the loss, while the Corsairs improve to 5-1.
Dean led the Judges with 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting, but only one other Brandeis player had more than two field goals. The Judges only got to the line six times in the entire contest, with UMD taking 13 foul shots and owning a 7-3 edge from the charity stripe. Brandeis owned a 48-37 rebounding edge as well, thanks to senior forward Samantha Anderson (Johnsonville, N.Y./Hoosac Valley) and sophomore guard Hannah Cain (Gloucester, Mass./Gloucester), who had seven boards each. Brandeis outshot the Corsairs, 37% to 31%, but an 18-14 edge in turnovers for the hosts was costly.
Forward Colleen Moriarty led the hosts with 22 points, including the game-winning bucket with 5.7 seconds left, a hook shot that rolled around the rim before finally dropping. She was the only UMD player in double figures, hitting 10-of-22 from the field. Stephanie Antone came off the bench to lead all players with 10 rebounds, including seven of the Corsairs' 17 offensive caroms.
It was a game of runs, with Brandeis erasing an early 14-7 deficit to take a 20-18 lead at halftime. UMD opened the second half with an Erika Bornemann 3-pointer, and the lead changed hands five times in the first 2:02 of the stanza. Back-to-back hoops by Dean and a Cain jumper made it 31-26, Judges, at the 16:56 mark, but UMass Dartmouth roared back with 13 of the game's next 15 points. The Corsairs got two hoops each from Moriarity, Kelsey Garritty and Beth Castantini in the run, with a Moriarity lay-up at 12:12 making it a 39-33 advantage for the hosts.
The Judges weren't done, embarking on a 14-3 run of their own over the next five-and-a-half minutes. Six different Brandeis players scored during the run, including trifectas from sophomore Mikaela Garvin (Providence, R.I./Hope) and junior Janelle Rodriguez (Peabody, Mass./Peabody Memorial). The latter gave Brandeis a 43-42 lead, which eventually got to 47-42 on Dean's bucket with 6:46 left.
UMass Dartmouth rallied from that point, holding Brandeis to just one field goal in their final 13 attempts. That was Dean's hoop at 4:16 that made it 49-45. The Corsairs scored the next three points from the line to make it a one-point game. Brandeis had two attempts to increase the lead, but were unable to convert, setting up Moriarty's heroics.
The Judges return to action on Thursday night with a non-conference tilt against Endicott College at 7 p.m.