In its first game of the season, the Massachusetts women’s basketball team met Team Concept in an exhibition game last Saturday.
The Minutewomen dropped a 72-58 contest to a team that exhibited too much size, talent and overall experience for the Minutewomen to keep up. Team Concept sported a lineup riddled with ex-WNBA players and professionals from overseas.
UMass fought to a 35-33 lead at halftime in a period where the Maroon and White dominated the boards and shut down the Team Concept attack. As the second half started, it appeared that the Minutewomen were slowly losing momentum as Team Concept went on quick scoring runs coming off an array of Maroon and White turnovers.
Over a 10-minute span, the Minutewomen were outscored by Team Concept 19-3, which put the nail in the coffin. The Maroon and White committed a total of 23 turnovers in the game and appeared to lose its intensity as the game went on.
UMass had trouble finding the basket in the second half and watched its shooting percentage drop drastically from the first period, falling from 57.7 percent to 33.3.
There was, however, some silver lining in the defeat as UMass got its first look at some of its new talent. Leading the way for the new faces was transfer Brooke Campbell, who led the team with 16 points on the night. UMass received some help from its freshman talent with Joyce Massey and Tamara Tatham making their college debuts. Massey had a stellar first night, scoring 11 points and grabbing three rebounds, while Tatham scored eight of her own.
With the departure of All-American Jen Butler due to graduation, the Minutewomen were lacking substantial size in the post. The Maroon and White will be looking toward its upperclassmen to pick up the slack on the boards.
Glamora Maeweather showcased her defensive skills throughout the game, outrebounding Team Concept players that were nearly six inches taller than her. Maeweather finished the night with 11 points and 10 rebounds in an impressive game in the post.
Leading the way for Team Concept were Deanna Jackson and Lenae Williams who scored 15 points apiece. Jackson was also powerful under the basket, grabbing five rebounds on the night.
LaQuanda Quick wasn’t giving the Minutewomen any easy baskets and exhibited the most powerful defensive presence on the court. Quick had three blocks in the game, one more than the entire UMass team could muster.
The Maroon and White starts its regular season next Friday at Sacred Heart University at 7 p.m.
