On Wednesday, Feb. 12, the Beacons headed to Dartmouth, Massachusetts for their final stretch of the regular season to face off against the — at the time nationally ranked — UMass Dartmouth Corsairs. The Corsairs sat atop the LEC standings with a 19-2 record and 12-0 in conference play.
The Beacons were able to hold their own against UMass Dartmouth early, holding them to 16 points in the opening quarter of play — their lowest quarter total of the match. A pair of blocked shots on the defensive end from Samora Merchant and Ashleigh Lagor shut down UMass Dartmouth for the quarter.
Tatiannah Fevry went a perfect two-for-two from the line to open the scoring in the second, but the Corsairs responded with a 10-2 run to take a commanding 28-14 lead. It was 38-23 by the end of the second, going into halftime.
Lagor ended the third with UMass Boston’s second triple of the game, but it wasn’t nearly enough, and the Corsairs led 61-37. In the fourth the Beacons played well, scoring 10 to the Corsairs’ 13 points in the final five minutes, but the wounds of earlier didn’t heal, and UMass Boston fell 88-55.
Saturday, Feb. 15, UMass Boston welcomed the Plymouth State Panthers to Beaconville for the recognition of National Girls and Women in Sports Day and the first-ever all-female broadcast at UMass Boston live streamed the game.
It was a close first quarter, and the Beacons trailed 13-11 heading into the second. Sabanna Berrios scored her third field goal to shrink the deficit to 14-13 and a Vanessa Bucha bucket soon tied the game at 19 apiece. Sophomore Jordis Tautalatasi scored her first basket of the night and gave the Beacons their first lead. But the Panthers answered quickly and tied it at 23 all, heading into the break.
UMass Boston opened the third with a 7-0 run to take the lead 30-23, but the Panthers soon responded, coming within three points of the Beacons’ lead. Lagor kept Plymouth State at bay with back-to-back baskets, keeping UMass Boston in front. The Beacons shined in the fourth, holding the Panthers to zero points, a complete shutout. Sibayla Jensen increased the lead to 10 points with a free throw under five minutes remaining and UMass Boston got a tough 57-38 home victory.
The Beacons wrapped up the regular season Wednesday, Feb. 19 against Vermont State University of Castleton. UMass Boston had an offensive explosion in the first, going on a 16-6 run with points from Bucha, Lagor and Fevry. The Beacons headed to the next quarter with a 24-14 lead.
In the second, UMass Boston kept their momentum, outscoring the Spartans 29-11 to head into halftime up 28. In the third, Berrios led the Beacons in scoring with 13 points and UMass Boston extended their lead to 32, their largest lead of the game. The Beacons let up in the fourth, and the Spartans outscored them 12-10 but the Beacons finished with 83 points, their third-highest point total of the year.
UMass Boston closed out the season with a big win and finished 7-9 in LEC play, good enough to qualify for the conference tournament as the sixth seed.
