Finally.

After losing five consecutive games and eight of the last nine, Massachusetts women’s basketball coach Marnie Dacko knew exactly what her team needed heading into battle with the Fordham Lady Rams at the Mullins Center Thursday night: a win.

And after shaking off a slow start with a little help from an energized defense, the Minutewomen (13-13 5-10 Atlantic 10) got just that, downing Fordham 64-51 in a vital game for the Maroon and White as they jockey for positioning in next weekend’s Atlantic 10 tournament.

“It’s just good to be on the winning end again,” Dacko said. “It was obviously really tough to keep having the losses pile on, but now at least we’re back headed in the right direction heading into our last game.”

The Rams (14-14, 5-10 Atlantic 10) flew out of the gate quickly, building an 18-9 lead on the strength of a 14-2 run, which was highlighted by three consecutive jumpers by sophomore guard Monica Mack and a trey from senior leading scorer Mobolaji Akiode.

After the lead grew to 25-14, the Minutewomen made a furious run over the next 8:46 sandwiched around halftime, scoring 16 consecutive points from six different players, and built a 30-25 lead at the 17:08 mark of the second frame.

“Our defense really picked up and allowed us to make that run,” Butler said. “We knew we had to do something to pick us up, and we went to an aggressive man-to-man and it really paid off for us.”

The lead grew to 52-40 with just 5:05 left in the contest, and the Minutewomen would connect on 11 of their 24 made free throws down the stretch to hold off the Fordham rally and preserve the much-needed victory.

“It really helped to get to the line [39] times tonight,” Dacko said. “We’ve been trying to do that all year, just pound the ball inside, and tonight it worked.”

“We took it to the hoop aggressively all night,” Butler added.

After being shutout for the first 11:31 of the game, Butler finished the night with an impressive double-double – her 22nd of the season – on 21 points and 19 rebounds in 39 minutes. Classmate Nekole Smith chipped in with 14 points for UMass.

The Minutewomen will now turn their attention to Sunday’s Senior Day matchup with Duquesne. UMass will honor its seven seniors before the game, which will again be crucial for postseason positioning. The Dukes will enter play as losers of four of their last five.

“We’re not going to finish second or first and get the bye,” Dacko said. “But we always want to win and finish the regular season on a high note, so it’s a game we really want.”