With the Massachusetts women’s basketball team down by a game-high 14 points to Richmond midway through the fourth quarter, it looked like the Minutewomen were on their way to another blowout loss with little positives to show from their effort.
Then Cierra Dillard stepped in and took over.
The sophomore went 8-for-12 from the field in the quarter as UMass (6-11, 0-5 Atlantic 10) but it wasn’t enough as the Spiders (9-9, 2-3 A-10) came away with a 74-68 win Saturday afternoon at the Mullins Center.
Despite the loss, Minutewomen coach Sharon Dawley was happy with how UMass played late in the game.
“I loved how the girls kept fighting out there,” Dawley said. “They made a pretty nice comeback late in the game, but we just didn’t have enough in the end to pull it out.”
Dillard had one thing on her mind late in the game.
“My mindset was to keep attacking,” Dillard said. “We had a lot of people step up late in the game and it showed in how we were able to cut the lead they had down. I just wanted to keep the flow going that my teammates created.”
Dillard led the Minutewomen with 27 points, 16 of which came in the fourth quarter. The point total is a career high for the Rochester, New York native.
UMass also got an offensive boost from redshirt sophomore Alyssa Lawrence who had 18 points. Rashida Timbilla and Alyx Stiff reached double digits as well chipping in 12 and 11 points respectively.
Unfortunately for the Minutewomen, those four players were the only UMass players to score in Saturday’s contest.
Dawley is cognizant of the impact that had on the outcome of the game.
“Obviously when everyone is not scoring, it will hurt your chances to win,” Dawley said. “The fact that four players were able to score 68 points is pretty amazing and if the other players had gotten on the board, we very well might have won this game.”
Entering Saturday, Richmond’s leading scorer was guard Janelle Hubbard. The junior came in averaging 15.3 points per game, which was good for third in the Atlantic 10.
Hubbard was off of a 25-point performance against Saint Josephs and followed it up with an even stronger game on Saturday scoring a career-high 32 points. She scored almost half her points from the free throw line, going 15-for-16 from the charity stripe.
Dawley was nothing but impressed with Hubbard’s ability to take over the game.
“She is one of the best players in the conference, so was no surprise to us that she would have the impact she did today,” Dawley said. “What really stood out to me was her ability to get to the line and knock down her free throws. It’s definitely a testament to her ability to work hard on the court.”
The Spiders also had a big performance from sophomore guard Micaela Parson, who had 15 points on the day.
With the loss, the Minutewomen’s losing streak was extended to five games and they remain winless in A-10 play.
Dillard believes it will only take one game to turn the momentum in the other direction.
“All it will take is a big win,” Dillard said. “A-10 teams are great, so any key win will get the momentum swinging the other way. We have great players on this team who can make plays and get it done when it counts, so a key win will keep us in the flow of the game.”
UMass will now hit the road for a quick one-game road trip as they take on George Washington (14-3, 4-0 A-10) on Wednesday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Smith Center in Washington D.C.
Adam Aucoin can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @aaucoin34.
