The Massachusetts women’s basketball team snapped its four-game losing streak, defeating Dayton, 56-46, Saturday afternoon at the Mullins Center. With two games remaining in the regular season, the Minutewomen keep their hopes of making the Atlantic 10 Tournament alive.

Senior forward Kate Mills continues to carry UMass (12-15, 4-8 A-10) as she posted a double-double with 23 points – on 9-of-14 shooting – and 10 rebounds. The Minutewomen stand tied for the last spot in the A-10 tournament with La Salle; however, the Minutewomen hold the tiebreaker because they defeated La Salle back on Feb. 6, 66-63.

“Kate’s been so bottled up and frustrated with her play and performance thinking she’s carrying the weight of the team,” UMass coach Marnie Dacko said. “She went out and really had an outstanding game.”

Dacko was impressed by her scoring but also her rebounding and ability to block shots. Mills finished with a game-high five blocks.

UMass started the game slow as Dayton (21-7, 7-4 A-10) pushed out to a 5-0 lead. But after Dacko inserted sophomore point guard Kim Benton and freshman forward Teya Wright, the Minutewomen went on a 12-0 run.

The Minutewomen had trouble containing senior guard Karah Cloxton in the first half as she scored 10 points including two three-point baskets. The Minutewomen, however, held Dayton to 27.6 percent shooting in the first half and closed the half on a 17-7 run. Dayton tried to double team Mills early in the first half, and it was successful until her teammates helped her out. The Minutewomen had nine points off the bench in the first half from Benton (3), Wright (4) and junior forward Stefanie Gerardot (2).

“The kids on the perimeter have to knock down open shots,” Dacko said. “We have opportunities to knock down open shots and we put a couple new wrinkles our offense and we got some open looks.”

With the Minutewomen leading 33-21, both teams started the second half sloppily. Coach Dacko called a 30-second timeout and placed Benton and Wright in the game. Out of the timeout Mills did what she had been doing all season, hitting shots when no one else could. Mills scored the next six points to keep the Minutewomen ahead, 37-23.

The Minutewomen went cold from that point, while Dayton started to find its rhythm by going on a 17-11 run to cut the lead to eight at 48-40. Senior forward Pam Rosanio struggled in the second half going 2-of-9 from the field with five points. She finished the game with 11 points and four rebounds.

All season Dacko has said that the Minutewomen are not a good rebounding team; however, on Saturday they showed that they have the ability to be a good rebounding team. The Minutewomen totaled 45 rebounds including 14 on the offensive glass. Dayton had 32 rebounds but only had six offensive boards. Senior forward Alisha Tatham grabbed nine rebounds, Mills had 10 and Wright had seven off the bench.

The Minutewomen held off the Dayton run with defensive pressure. They only allowed six points in the final seven minutes of the game. Mills and Rosanio scored back-to-back baskets to push the lead back to 10.

With nine seconds left in the game, Dacko pulled the starters and congratulated all of her seniors on Senior Day.

Game notes

Benton played 23 minutes, scoring thee points after banking a three pointer. This is the first time Benton has played more than five minutes in the last four games due to injuries. She also had four assists with no turnovers