UMass Boston’s Women’s Basketball team played against UMass Dartmouth on our home court in the Clark Athletic Center on Wednesday night, Feb. 19, 2020. This was a particularly special game as it was senior night for the players who will be graduating this May. The four seniors on the team are: #3 Jamie Staples, #13 Alecia Quinones, #4 Nicola Webbe, and #2 Maia Daugherty. Before the first quarter began, the seniors were given their gifts. Each of these girls were gifted a bouquet of flowers and a framed jersey of their numbers, commemorating the years they spent together. UMass Boston’s team unified themselves with matching pink shirts while they warmed up for the game, taking them off while they played. 
As the first quarter began, the Beacons scored the first two points of the game. As the ball was in play, the UMass Boston teammates on the bench called out the countdown from ten as the clock ticked. The score of each team maintained close in proximity to one another. UMass Boston’s Alecia Quinones, stole the ball back after an attempt shot on the net by Dartmouth’s #24, Jessica Carroll. As this happened, Dartmouth’s #11, Jordan Moretti, stole the lead with a score of 6–5. With three minutes down on the first quarter, Dartmouth’s #22, Ashley Brown, stole the ball and scored two more points against UMass Boston. At this point, the first time out was called. When the game resumed, a foul was called on UMass Boston’s #1, Rachel Tutkus, against Dartmouth’s #13, Shaelyn Carreiro, which gave her a free throw shot, which she got in. With 20 seconds left in the game, UMass Boston’s #12, Tahjai Mazyck, got a two point basket in, leading their score into double digits. The first quarter ended with a score of 15–10, Dartmouth in the lead. 
As period two began and Dartmouth had the ball, UMass Boston’s Jamie Staples made a turnover and assisted in UMass Boston’s #11, Jalani Jackson, in scoring on Dartmouth. She made another three points after this by making yet another basket, and she had a free throw as well, which she got in. UMass Boston’s Tahjai Mazyck attempted to keep this streak going in scoring against Dartmouth, but unfortunately missed. A travel violation was given to Dartmouth’s #14, Kayla McMahon, against UMass Boston players Jalani Jackson and Tahjai Mazyck who had the ball between them. Dartmouth’s Jessica Carroll shot on UMass Boston but missed, while UMass Boston’s Jalani Jackson stole it and got a three point shot out of it. With five minutes left in the quarter, UMass Boston’s Maia Daugherty and Jalani Jackson assisted Tahjai Mazyck in getting two points, thus having the lead with a score of 25–23, with Beacons in the lead. Two free throws were made in against us by Dartmouth’s Shaelyn Carreiro with less than a minute left. When UMass Boston got the ball back, they tossed the ball around too much and ran out of time on the clock. 
UMass Boston’s players used the half time to rest up and get their heads back into the game. The third quarter began with Dartmouth’s #15, Lauren Empey getting a layup against the Beacons, as well as Dartmouth’s Kayla McMahon getting a free throw in. Two UMass Boston players, Jamie Staples and #23, Joie Grassi came to save the day, each making a three pointer for the team. These points made it a very close game, with two minutes into the quarter, they were now tied 37–37. Dartmouth’s Jordan Moretti lost the ball while UMass Boston’s Maia Daugherty stole it, attempting to complete a layup but subsequently missed. A foul was called on Dartmouth’s Ashley Brown against UMass Boston’s Alecia Quinones giving her two free throws in, which she received one point for, as one was missed. UMass Boston’s Joie Grassi got a rebound and UMass Boston’s Jalani Jackson got a layup, thus tieing the teams 40–40 halfway through the quarter. Dartmouth’s Jordan Moretti could feel the tension rise and despite her small stature, she was quick in responding aggressively. She began more actively stealing the ball throughout the game and made a two pointer at this point. Dartmouth’s Jessica Carroll received a foul on UMass Boston’s Tahjai Mazyck, giving her two free throws which she ended up missing, unfortunately. UMass Dartmouth’s coach was getting more and more angry with the referees as more fouls were given, claiming it was not correct or fair. UMass Boston’s #31, Kaylee Haynes got a three pointer in, which was followed by Dartmouth’s Jordan Moretti making a free throw in and scoring two points as well, keeping the score very close. UMass Boston’s Jalani Jackson had the ball in her hands as the clock ticked down ten seconds. She shot on the last second, but missed, ending the quarter with a score of 53–52, Beacons in the lead. 
In the last quarter, tensions began seriously rising. With such a close game, it could go either way. UMass Boston’s Alecia Quinones had a free throw in, which she made. A foul was called on UMass Boston, giving Dartmouth’s Kayla McMahon two free throws which she got in.The score was tied at 58–58 with only five minutes left on the clock, so UMass Boston called a time out. Once the game resumed again, UMass Boston’s #33, Geanna Williams had two free throws in which she got both in, and then shortly after another two free throws that she got in as well. This gave the lead to the Beacons with a score of 62–58, and less than two minutes left in the game. Another timeout was called at this point. Dartmouth’s Jordan Moretti got two free throws in, moving their way up to tie their score with UMass Boston. Geanna Williams evened this out by getting a two pointer, leading the Beacons again by four points, and less than a minute left on the clock. A penalty on Dartmouth gave UMass Boston’s Jalani Jackson two free throws, missing one and making the other in. When Dartmouth got the ball back, there was only ten seconds left on the clock, and they lost the ball regardless due to referee calls. The game ended with a Beacons win, and a score of 65–60. 
When asked how she was feeling, Kristina Baugh, the UMass Boston Women’s Basketball coach said, “It feels good. This was my first recruiting class, and Jaymie and Nikki were later additions. It was a big game for them, they earned it. They did a hell of a job and it was a very close game. It always is with UMass Dartmouth, they can score and score in bunches so we really had to defend down the stretch and I thought we did that. I’m really excited for them, my first class and their senior night.”