1/28/2010 10:32:58 PM
NORTH DARTMOUTH, MA-Freshman guard Erica Batchelder (Stoughton, MA/Stoughton HS) made seven three-point field goals and score 25 points to lead visiting Salem State to a 72-57 victory over the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s women’s basketball team in a non-conference game at the Tripp Athletic Center Thursday evening.
Batchelder hit four treys in the second half, including two in the first four minutes that allowed the Vikings to take a 14-point lead, and another with 58 seconds left that gave SSC a 68-56 advantage. “Any time we got close, it was Batchelder that separated us with her shot shooting form the corner” said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Amanda Van Voorhis. “
The teams traded the lead back and forth for the first 13 minutes, with freshman guard Jessica Howlett’s (North Quincy, MA/North Quincy HS) jump shot giving the Corsairs a one-point advantage at 18-17. Senior forward Danielle Jenkins then began and ended a 7-0 run with lay-ups, putting the Vikings ahead, 24-18. Junior guard Lynley DeAmato (Melrose, MA/Melrose HS) and freshman center Colleen Moriarty (Canton, MA/Canton HS) and Jenkins exchanged lay-ups to cut the deficit to 26-22 with 3:32 remaining, but another three-pointer by Batchelder ignited a 9-3 run that gave the Vikings a 35-25 lead at halftime. The Corsairs got no closer than nine points in the second half.
Junior forward Tashauna Ashmeade (Hyannis, MA/ Barnstable) led UMass Dartmouth with 17 points, sophomore guard Stephanie Houtman (New Bedford, MA/New Bedford HS//Bridgewater State) added 16, and senior forward Kaylin Nelson (New Bedford, MA/ Salve Regina) contributed 10. Jenkins and freshman center Brianna Wilson (Lowell, MA/Lowell HS) each scored 12 points for the Vikings, but Jenkins was limited to 16 minutes and fouled out. Ashmeade, Nelson and Moriarty each grabbed seven rebounds for UMD. Brianna Wilson had nine for Salem State, which out rebounded the Corsairs, 45-39.
“We had a pretty well-balanced scoring attack, but we had too much one-on-one play,” said Van Voorhis. “We’ve got to focus more on our team offense. We applied some full-court pressure at the end, and we created a little bit of chaos. We turned them over, and we re-energized ourselves.”
The Corsairs dropped to 7-12 with the defeat, while the Vikings improved to 12-6 with the victory. UMass Dartmouth will return to action when they host Western Connecticut State in the first game of a doubleheader Saturday. Salem State will visit MCLA next Tuesday.