Moriarty, Corsairs win against Seahawks, 67-54

NEWPORT, R.I. - Senior forward Colleen Moriarty (Canton, Mass.) scored a game-high 26 points as University of Massachusetts Dartmouth defeated Salve Regina University women's basketball, 67-54, in non-league action at the Rodgers Recreation Center.

Moriarty and her fellow Canton High School alum, junior Erika Bornemann (Canton, Mass.), both finished with double-doubles as the Corsairs improved to 6-1 overall while playing their first road game of the season. The pair of six-footers helped the visitors score the game's first seven points. 

Salve Regina (1-5) then went on a 19-4 run which included a pair of 3-pointers each from two freshmen - Meaghan Harden (Sandwich, Mass.) and Kaitlyn Lendrum (El Dorado, Calif.). After Moriarty made a layup and jump shot to cut the Corsair deficit in half, 19-15, sophomore Brianna Del Valle (Belchertown, Mass.) and senior Kaitlyn Birrell (Hope, R.I.) regained the eight-point advantage with consecutive layups.

Harden followed with a layup at 8:28 for Salve Regina's largest lead of the first half, 25-15.

Trailing by 10 (29-19) at 5:50, UMD freshman Beth Castantini (Newburyport, Mass.) buried a 3-pointer and then Moriarty added a layup to close within five (29-24). Birrell buried her own 3-pointer at 4:21 for a 32-24 score, but the Seahawks managed only two free throws after that before intermission.

Moriarty finished with two more layups and 16 points at the break while Bornemann added a 3-pointer and Castantini swished two free free throws with four ticks remaining in the first half.

The Corsairs started the next 20 minutes in similar fashion to the first, scoring six straight points. UMass Dartmouth had a 12-3 run to start the period before Harden hit a 3-pointer at the 15:10 mark, making the score 45-40 for the visitors.

UMD enjoyed another 9-1 run which included another 3-pointer from Castantini. The Corsairs led by as many as 16 (65-49) when Kelsey Garrity (Somerville, Mass.) sank a layup at the 1:52 mark.

In addition to Moriarty and Bornemann, Castantini (15) and Garrity also finished with double-figure scoring for UMass Dartmouth. Salve Regina's freshmen pair of Harden and Lendrum finished with 17 and 12 points, respectively.

Salve Regina hosts Westfield State University on Saturday at 1 p.m. while UMass Dartmouth continues on the road at Plymouth State University in a Little East Conference (LEC) contest.