Coach Brian Baptiste's Corsairs extended their winning streak to 11 straight games last week with impressive victories over Salem State College (73-70), Western Connecticut (84-71) and Rhode Island College (78-74). The two Little East Conference victories have UMass Dartmouth (15-6, 8-2) in the driver's seat for the conference regular season title. With a pair of games remaining against Eastern Connecticut (2-9 LEC) and Southern Maine (0-9), UMass Dartmouth can determine its own fate regardless of what anyone else in the conference does down the stretch. Ranked 6th in this week's Northeast Region Division III poll and tied with Salem State, the Corsairs, winners of 13 of their last 14, also ran their winning streak against teams ranked in the Northeast Region Top 10 to five straight.

The Corsairs snapped Salem State College's 12-game winning streak on Feb. 6 with an exciting three-point victory at the Tripp Center. LEC Honor Roll selection Ryan Bland (Dartmouth, MA) led the Corsairs with a game-high 22 points along with 4-7 on three-pointers, four assists and three steals. Also scoring in double figures against the then #4 Vikings were Mosadi Caldwell (Providence, RI) with 12 points and eight rebounds, and Sean Donovan (Quincy, MA) with 10 points, including a pair of three-pointers. Bland earned LEC Honor Roll distinction for averaging 19 points and shooting 82% from the line (18-22) in the Corsairs' three key wins last week.

In the showdown for top spot in the LEC on Feb. 8, the Corsairs raced out to a 47-26 lead over then #6 Western Connecticut and hung on in the second half for a convincing 13-point victory. Five Corsairs scored in double figures, led by Bland's 20 points, which included 2-3 on three-pointers and 10-12 from the free throw line. Tony Moreira (Pawtucket, RI) had 16 points along with four rebounds. Caldwell and Jason Antonio (Mattapoisett, MA) added 14 points and seven rebounds each and captain Rick Taylor (Freetown, MA) finished with 10 points and eight rebounds. RIC entered its game with UMass Dartmouth ranked #10 in the Northeast Poll, but they couldn't solve the Corsairs either. Despite 29 points by the LEC's leading scorer Alex Butler of RIC, UMass Dartmouth edged the Anchormen by four points with six players hitting double figures. Bland and Moreira tied with 14 points each, to go along with Donovan (13), Taylor (12), Caldwell (11) and Antonio (10). Caldwell, who leads the LEC in rebounding with an 8 reb/game average, had a game-high eight rebounds, while Taylor grabbed seven and Donovan had five.

UMass Dartmouth picked up an important ECAC Central victory on Feb. 8 when the Corsairs knocked off second-place St. Michael's College at Hetland Arena. The victory snapped a six-game winning streak by St. Michael's and improved UMass Dartmouth's overall record to 13-4-1 and 7-2-1, third in the ECAC Central and one point behind St. Michael's and first-place Bentley College (9-2).

After a stretch where UMass Dartmouth lost three games and tied another, Coach John Rolli's team has responded with a pair of victories in its last two outings. Jason Cormier's (Waltham, MA) true hat trick (three consecutive goals) sparked the Corsairs along with a pair of goals by Mike Doherty (Stoneham, MA) and single goals by Craig Hardy (Everett, MA) and Jarrod DiBona (Weymouth, MA). Louis Weimann (Burlington, VT) made 28 saves to improve his overall record to 5-2 (2-0 ECAC Central) with a 3.03 goals against average and an .886 saves percentage. St. Michael's jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period before Doherty and Hardy tied the game with the first of five straight goals. Cormier scored the next three in row to give the Corsairs a 5-2 lead midway through the second period. St. Michael's came right back, scoring three in a row to tie the game, 5-5 with less about 17 minutes to play. From there, however, the Corsairs' defense went to work and the offense finally scored the game-winner when Jarrod DiBona was assisted by captain Marc Salvi (Cheshire, MA) and Jeramie DiBona (Weymouth, MA) at 15:25. UMass Dartmouth added an insurance goal about three minutes later, when Doherty added an unassisted goal to give the Corsairs the 7-5 victory.

Salvi's two assists were enough to boost him into first place in the team scoring race this season. Salvi has eight goals and 23 assists for 31 points, one point ahead of Jarrod DiBona (12-18-30). Tied for third in scoring are Doherty, the Corsairs' top goal scorer (14-11-25), and Hardy (9-16-25). In addition to Weimann in goal, Ryan Sloper (Billerica, MA) is 8-3 with a 2.43 goals against average and a .903 saves percentage.

Three Corsair track athletes turned in strong individual performances on Feb. 8 at the Smith College Invitational, achieving qualifying marks for post season competition. With a finishing time of 3:18.74 in the 1000 meters, Kristen Shea (Dartmouth, MA) qualified for the New England Division III Championship Meet to be held Saturday, Feb. 15 at Bowdoin College. Maura McDonald (Greenfield, MA) and Becky Robitaille (Acushnet, MA) both earned invitations to the ECAC Championship meet with their performances at Smith College. McDonald finished the 1500 meters in 4:57 and Robitaille placed seventh in the 55-meter dash at :07.74 to earn spots in the ECAC Championship Meet at Boston University on March 1. Among the other top performers in Northampton were Julie Briggs (Jefferson, MA), fifth in the 20 lb weight (39-6).

Bradley Cardoza (Wareham, MA) took home first place in the 35 lb weight for a second week in a row, leading the field at the Smith College Invitational on Feb. 8. Cardoza, who already has a provisional qualification for the NCAA Division III meet in the 35 lb weight (53-9 1/4 on Jan. 18), finished first with a throw of 52-7. He also won last week's competition at the Coast Guard Academy with a toss of 53-2 3/4. The Corsairs took second and fifth in the triple jump competition with Ken Papetti (Dedham, MA) second at 42-5 and teammate Mitch Sousa (Fall River, MA) fifth at 41-7. Sousa also captured a fourth-place finish in the long jump with a leap of 20-1 1/2.

UMass Dartmouth ran into two of the top women's basketball teams in New England last week and came away with losses to Salem State (80-41) and Western Connecticut (80-58). An 83-58 loss to another LEC rival, Rhode Island College on Feb. 11, extended the Corsairs' losing streak to three games.

Despite a game-high 20-point performance by Kelly Berger (Buzzard's Bay, MA), the Corsairs dropped the non-conference game to Salem State on Feb. 6 at the Tripp Center. With starter Darilyn St. Germaine (Wareham, MA) and co-captain Cathy Danner (Marshfield, MA) sitting on the bench with injuries, Berger carried the load for UMass Dartmouth. She was 7-18 from the field and 3-4 on three-pointers with a team-high seven rebounds and a steal. Jennifer Pitner (Millis, MA) had seven points and five rebounds and Shannon Martin (Scituate, MA) had six points and five assists. Two days later, Berger did it again for the Corsairs, scoring 17 points in a losing effort against Western Connecticut. Martin added seven points and five rebounds for UMass Dartmouth.

Against RIC on Feb. 11, the Anchorwomen bolted out to a 48-25 lead and cruised to an 83-58 win in Providence, RI. Berger provided almost all of UMass Dartmouth's offense, scoring 22 points, including 4-9 from behind the three-point line. Martin added nine points and six rebounds. Natarsha Silva (Brockton, MA) contributed seven points, but added eight assists, five steals and a game-high seven rebounds. Co-captain Patricia Tomkiewicz (Dartmouth, MA) had six points and five rebounds and Pitner added six points on a pair of three-pointers.

St. Germaine remains among the LEC leaders in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots. Averaging 10.9 points per game, St. Germaine is eighth in LEC scoring, third in rebounding with 10.5 rebounds per game and second in blocked shots with 1.3 blocks per game. Other Corsairs among the LEC leaders include Martin, sixth in rebounding at 6.8 rebounds per game and seventh in steals (2.2 per game), Berger, sixth in assists (3.4 per game) and Silva, second in steals with 3.2 steals per game.

In only his second year of competition in Greece, former UMass Dartmouth all star point guard Stefan Pagios (Pawtucket, RI) has already made a big name for himself. Playing for Filippos this season, Pagios is fourth in the league in scoring with a 13.8 points per game average, less than three points out of the lead. Pagios is also fourth in assists (28) and steals (14) and sixth in fouls won (43) and economy (combination of assists, steals and blocks minus turnovers) with 21. The three-pointer has been the former LEC Player of the Year's best shot in Greece this season, connecting on 16 to rank third in the league and 12th in three-point shooting percentage (16-39). Pagios is also seventh in free throws (36) and 11th in field goals (27)..... One fan, picked randomly from the fans in the stands at one of the two remaining UMass Dartmouth men's basketball home games, will have an opportunity to attempt to make a lay up, free throw, three-point shot and a half-court shot within 30 seconds. Make all the shots within the time limit and the lucky fan will win $5,000. The Corsairs' last two home games are Feb. 15 vs. Trinity College and Feb. 18 vs. Eastern Connecticut.