BOSTON, Mass. — Entering Saturday's high-profile MIAA matchup between St. Mary's and Dartmouth, the focus for viewers — and each team's defense — were the two stars squaring off.
St. Mary's sophomore Bella Owumi and Dartmouth senior Kat Cheesebro are two of the premier talents in the state. They received the brunt of a defensive barrage, including spending most of the 1-on-1 possessions guarding each other. The result: a near-wash, and with enough supporting contributions, the Spartans won a 38-29 battle at Emmanuel College.
"Obviously we struggled making some shots, especially early," St. Mary's coach Jeff Newhall said. "But I think for us, the defense was the story. It kept us in the game early when it could have gotten away from us."
Here are five standouts from the matchup between two of our MIAA Top 10 teams.
Juliana Conte, St. Mary’s
Class of 2025, 5-7 guard
Hometown: Wakefield, Mass.
NCAA: Eastern Conn. State
Conte's three made 3-pointers loomed even larger in the low-scoring affair. She opened the scoring for the Spartans with a make and added two in the second half to keep a struggling offense on track. Conte was also an impact help defender when Dartmouth was driving and kicking the basketball. Her steady confidence as a shooter is a helpful anchor for the young teammates around her.
"If I shoot and my shots don't fall, I set up and I follow my shot. But when they do fall, that gets us back into the game and our energy is high," Conte said.
Reese Matela, St. Mary’s
Class of 2025, 6-1 center
Hometown: Swampscott, Mass.
NCAA: Assumption
Matela only scored five points in this game, but her impact was really felt on the defensive end. St. Mary's hung in a standard half-court man-to-man defense during the contest, meaning Matela often got switched onto Cheesebro. She did a nice job keeping Cheesebro in front of her in those moments and even had one play where she stepped up on the switch to stuff a pull-up jumper. I'd give similar credit to backup center Charleigh Green (7 points).
"I thought Reese and Charleigh did a pretty good job both ways: finishing in around the hoop, (and) they were the primary switch onto Cheesebro," Newhall said.
Bella Owumi, St. Mary’s
Class of 2027, 5-11 guard/forward
Hometown: Lynn, Mass.
Owumi wasn't very assertive on offense most of this contest — I counted one shot attempt in the first half — but she turned up the aggressiveness late and scored all 10 of her points in the fourth quarter. Even with the rocky scoring game, Owumi might have still been the Spartans' most impactful player. She did a phenomenal job as the primary defender against perhaps the state's best scorer and forced Cheesebro to take extra time thinking about how and where she wanted to drive. Owumi consistently brings a high motor as an on-ball and off-ball defender, the latter area leading to multiple steals. That defensive compete level, coupled with her athletic tools, is her calling card as a Power Four prospect.
"It's certainly not the easiest task in the world to say, 'We need you to score all the points and we need you to cover one of the best players in the state, if not New England,' right?" Newhall said. "That's a lot physically, mentally, so she persevered and she stayed patient."
Kat Cheesebro, Dartmouth
Class of 2025, 5-8 guard
Cheesebro scored Dartmouth's first eight points and finished with a game-high 14. By her standards, this wasn't a stellar performance, but that's with an entire defense of a top-five opponent focused on stopping her. Cheesebro was still able to get downhill on her straight-line drives and was a weapon as a transition playmaker. Her impressive body control in the air helps her finish some sweet at-rim buckets and mid-range floaters. I also think Cheesebro played quality defense, taking on the Owumi matchup and generating some turnovers with help-side rotations. She's 16 points away from breaking Dartmouth's all-time scoring record (currently 1,840 from Jessica Gaspar)
FAREWELL TOUR: Why Cheesebro has decided not to play in college
Kaelyn Zuber, Dartmouth
Class of 2026, 5-7 guard
Zuber led the rest of Dartmouth with five points in the loss, though I think that undersells her all-around impact. After Cheesebro, she's the ball-handler who can get to the second level of the defense, and she had one nice drive-and-kick to Remy Barber for a corner 3-pointer. Zuber makes a lot of the correct extra passes and also led a strong team defense, including swiping a steal from Owumi as a help defender.
