Any basketball team that has aspirations to succeed, whether at the collegiate or professional level, needs to have an unbreakable bond between its best player and its head coach. Countless examples include Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich of the five-time NBA champion San Antonio Spurs, or Breanna Stewart and Geno Auriemma, who never missed an opportunity to win an NCAA Championship during their four years together at the University of Connecticut.
While the Massachusetts women’s basketball team has not reached those levels of achievement, their limited success (5-1) this year seems due in large part to an unwavering sense of confidence between the team’s on-court leader in Sam Breen and its head coach Tory Verdi. Further evidence of this camaraderie was revealed after Breen (22 points) hit a last-second, buzzer-beating layup to take down Saint John’s (2-3) on Dec. 13 by a score of 63-61.
“I knew as soon as Sam [Breen] got her hands on it, we were going to win,” Verdi said postgame of the team’s last possession.
Normally, this would be an easy statement to make about Breen, the team’s leading scorer who found the ball in her hands two feet away from the basket with a second left in the contest. But the senior standout had uncharacteristically missed a few easy layups earlier in the game, potentially allowing some doubt to creep into her and Verdi’s mind. That doubt never materialized, as Breen possesses a sense of level-headedness that other players of her talent level lack in.
“Not going to lie, I was definitely frustrated with myself,” Breen said of her earlier misses. “You just have to think ‘next play’ and not let it dwell, because if I would’ve let it dwell, then honestly, I might’ve not made that last shot right there.”
Some of Breen’s consistency is likely a product of the sense of belief Verdi has in her ability. The former Penn State transfer was enabled by Verdi to step in as a primary scoring option last season, and has not looked back since. This year, Breen is fourth in the Atlantic 10 Conference in scoring (19.7 points per game) and fifth in rebounding (8.3 per) as the Minutewomen extended their winning streak to four games.
“That’s been the biggest thing since I’ve came here: his confidence in me,” Breen said of Verdi. “He’s made me the player that I am. He really just made me fall in love with the game again, and that’s just been all the difference.”
Breen and the rest of the Minutewomen will get some time off to spend with family around the holidays before gearing up for a New Year’s Day matchup against Saint Joseph’s (1-0) in Philadelphia.
Freeman Alfano can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @freemanalfano.
