DARTMOUTH, Mass. – The visiting Bridgewater State University women's tennis team edged UMass Dartmouth, 5-4, in a Little East Conference (LEC) match on Monday afternoon at the UMD Tennis Courts.

The Bears improve to 6-2 with their third straight win and a perfect 3-0 in the Little East. The Corsairs fall to 5-4 overall and 2-2 in conference play. Bridgewater State is 14-11 versus UMass (9-6 on the road) since the Bears joined the Little East in 2004.

After dropping two of the three doubles matches, Bridgewater rallied to take four of the six singles flights to come away with the 5-4 victory.

In doubles action, the UMD first flight tandem of seniors IsaBella Winter (Sarasota, Fla.) and Ailey Riddick (Abington, Mass.) earned an 8-5 win while senior Caroline Lemieux (Acushnet, Mass.) and sophomore Zuri Walters (Dorchester, Mass.) posted an 8-4 decision at number three.

The Bears' picked up their lone doubles point at the second flight as senior Allison Carter (Raynham, Mass.) and junior Meghan Lotti (Stoneham, Mass.) led 4-1 when their opponents were forced to retire.

A 6-1, 6-2 straight set win by Lotti at number five singles evened the match at 2-2 before Winter reclaimed the lead for the Corsairs with a 6-1, 6-2 straight set triumph at the top flight.

Straight set wins by Carter at number three (6-1, 6-1) and graduate student Mackenzie Silveira (Middletown, R.I.) at the second flight (6-2, 6-4) gave the visitors their first lead of the day at 4-3.

Sophomore Bailey Clarke (Ellsworth, Maine) battled back from a set down to post a 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 decision at number four to knot the score at 4-4.

BSU freshman Samantha Bettencourt (Tiverton, R.I.) then secured the decisive fifth point for the Bears as she split the first two sets, 6-4, 5-7, before capturing the third set and the match, 6-1.

The Little East schedule continues for both teams on Wednesday afternoon at 3:30. The Bears travel to Salem State University to take on the Vikings while the Corsairs entertain the Anchorwomen of Rhode Island College.