PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Top-seeded University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and third-seeded University of Southern Maine will play for the 2025 Little East Conference (LEC) Women’s Basketball Tournament Championship after winning their respective semifinal matchups Thursday. The opening tip will be Saturday at 1 p.m. at UMass Dartmouth’s Tripp Athletic Center.
 
The Corsairs will play for the LEC title for the second consecutive year and for the third time in four years after defeating fifth-seeded Keene State College. The Huskies will play for the LEC title for the first time since 2014 after upsetting four-time defending LEC champion and second-seeded Rhode Island College.
 
No. 1 UMass Dartmouth 66, No. 4 Keene State 54
 
The Corsairs (22-4) never trailed in this one, scoring the opening 11 points of the contest. Teja Andrews opened the scoring with a pair of made free throws just 11 seconds into the game, and Carly Whiteside capped the opening surge by draining a three with 3:01 left in the first quarter.
 
Keene State (13-14) would slowly chip away at that deficit and made it a one-possession game at multiple points in the second quarter before going into the locker room down four, 31-27. Ruby Dasaro opened the third quarter with a layup for the Owls that once again made it a one score game before two made free throw s from Kaylin Zalewski sparked a 13-2 UMass Dartmouth run that put the game out of reach. Whitesides free throws with 2:03 left in the third gave the Corsairs a 44-31 lead.
 
Whiteside finished with a team-best 21 points and nine rebounds for the hosts, while Zalewski finished with 20 points, nine rebounds and a pair of steals. Andrews totaled 10 points with nine rebounds and three steals.
 
Bryn Rautiola scored a game-high 24 points on 6-of-11 shooting from three and a 6-for-7 performance at the line to lead Keene State. Dasaro also finished in double-figures with 13 points to go with five boards and three steals.
 
No. 3 Southern Maine 71, No. 2 Rhode Island College 57
 
The visiting Huskies (18-9) shot an efficient 48 percent (23-of-48) from the field and 47 percent (7-of-15) from three while holding the host Anchorwomen (19-7) to 33 percent shooting from the floor (20-of-61) and long distance (9-of-27) to ensure there will be a new LEC champion in 2025.
 
Southern Maine went on a 12-2 run following a game-opening layup from RIC’s Angelina Nardolillo and never looked back. Dakota Shipley started the run with her game-tying layup, and Liz Cote capped off the run by knocking down a jumper with 3:10 left in the first quarter to make it a 12-4 game.
 
USM never trailed again after that opening bucket, taking a 37-19 lead into the locker room at halftime after closing the second quarter with a 13-4 run. The Huskies would lead by as many as 28 points after Shipley’s three with 3:32 to go in the third make it 55-27 in favor of Southern Maine.
 
Lucy Wiles led all scorers with 29 points on 9-of 17 shooting from the floor and a 9-for-14 performance at the line, while also tallying seven rebounds, five assists and three steals. Shipley finished with 17 points and five boards, while Cote ended the night with 11 points and six boards.
 
Madison Medbury led RIC with 16 points and five assists, going just 6-for-26 from the floor and 3-for-12 from beyond the arc. Jayda Bing also scored in double-figures with 10 points, while Meagan Schuermann chipped in with nine points and seven boards.
 
LEC Tournament Notes

• UMass Dartmouth will play in the LEC title game for the sixth time in program history, and for the fifth time since 2018.
• Southern Maine is appearing in the conference final for a LEC-record 27th time, with its last appearance coming in 2014
• The Huskies defeated the Corsairs in their first-ever LEC final appearance, 90-66 in 2013.
• UMass Dartmouth has yet to win a LEC tournament title, while USM owns a LEC-record 20 tournament trophies in its case.