In a record-breaking game, the Massachusetts women’s basketball team defeated Fisher College (5-6) by an enormous margin of 121-38.
En route to topping the Falcons by nearly 100, the Minutewomen shattered some records along the way.
Some of the records broken in the game were: Most points in a game (121), most assists in a game (34), most 3-pointers by a UMass team (17), most 3-pointers by a player (10), most points scored in a quarter since adding the four-period system in 2015-2016 (39), and the largest margin of victory (83 pts).
Hailey Leidel headlined this one, showing off for the fans finishing with 34 points and shooting an astonishing 10-10 from beyond the arc. Genesis Rivera finished the game with 18 points on 4-5 from 3-point land, and both Jessica George and Bre Hampton-Bey tallied 13 points as well. Hampton-Bey, who leads the Atlantic 10 in steals, was able to add to her steal total with four in this one.
“I don’t really know how to explain it, we were just running sets that we normally run to try and get me open, we were running them perfect and I was getting the shots off,” Leidel said. “I guess I was just feeling it, everyone was looking for me and wanted to get me the ball to shoot which is always amazing and that definitely helps. It was just my night I guess, it was a good night.”
Head Coach Tory Verdi has said before that Leidel has a lot to prove, and it seemed like she proved it against Fisher College.
“She played outstanding, and you know I think there’s more that she can do, on both sides of the ball,” Verdi said. “I’ve seen it before so I know what she’s capable of doing, I recruited her in High School when I was at Eastern Michigan so I knew that she was capable of doing something like this. Going 10-10 is pretty hard to beat but if there’s one person who can beat it, I think it’s her, it wouldn’t surprise me down the stretch if she hit more than 10 threes in her career.”
Leidel received even more praise from veteran senior guard Leah McDerment, who finished the contest with nine points of her own, along with six rebounds and seven assists.
“Hailey you know she came in and was very confident as a freshman, mostly though we were more confident in her than she was in herself and I think that allowed her to grow at the rate that she did,” McDerment said. “We have our own little connection, I’m always looking for her because I know what she’s capable of, and she knows that when I’m running the floor she’s going to get a shot or something.”
The team itself was remarkable shooting the ball, ending the night shooting 62 percent from the field and 65 percent from beyond the 3-point line. Everyone on the team scored at least six points, and they only turned the ball over nine times while adding to their defensive accolades this season with 11 steals.
In a game that UMass only didn’t have the lead for a mere five seconds, the team was able to gain a much-needed confidence booster heading into another home game against a much tougher Saint Peter’s team (3-5).
“This game was timely, it allowed for us to get clicking on all cylinders and I thought we executed really well,” Verdi said. “We’re trying to grow this program, trying to give our kids confidence, and I think they got some of that here tonight and they ought to feel pretty good about where we are. But St. Peter’s is the biggest game of the year and we have to do the same things, we got to have the same energy, the same focus, and the same attitude.”
UMass sits at 6-4 to this point this season and hopes to carry the amazing play from this one into the next game against Saint Peters at home at 2 p.m. this Sunday.
Cameron Sibert can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at @camsibert.
