The Massachusetts women’ basketball team fell to 9-11 on the season and 1-6 in Atlantic 10 conference play after an 87-81 loss in double overtime to Davidson on Wednesday night.

The Minutewomen have now lost seven of their last eight games after the seven-point defeat to the Wildcats (9-12, 4-4 A-10).

UMass had the lead for most of the game, with its largest lead reaching 16 points.  The Minutewomen controlled the game in the first half, but struggled to maintain that momentum, as they were outscored 18-9 in the third quarter and 17-15 in the fourth.

The momentum Davidson gained carried into overtime and proved to be too much for UMass to handle.

Turnovers plagued UMass in this game, as it gave the ball up 29 times, leading to 24 points for Davidson.

The Wildcats won the battle on the glass as well, especially on their offensive side where they grabbed 19 boards leading to 13 second chance points.

For the Minutewomen, Hailey Leidel posted the team high in points with 25, to go along with six rebounds and three assists. Senior center Maggie Mulligan played 38 minutes in this one and used that time to get 10 points, six rebounds, and four blocked shots.

Junior guard Kianna Speight was strong for the Wildcats as she was able to rack up 23 points on 6-16 shooting and 3-11 from downtown. Speights also had 5 assists and 3 steals in the contest.

Mackenzie Platt led Davidson in scoring, composing 31 points in 46 minutes played.

UMass coach Tory Verdi was unavailable for comment after the game.

The Minutewomen have already improved on a tough season last year, but have hit a rough patch in conference play.

A matchup against a pretty lackluster Rhode Island team (3-18, 1-7 A-10) should see UMass regaining some much needed confidence as they try to bounce back from an uneasy start to A-10 play.

That matchup is set for Sunday January 28th at 2 p.m. in Rhode Island.

Cam Sibert can be reached at [email protected].