The Massachusetts women’s basketball team is usually led on the offensive end by either Sam Breen or Sydney Taylor. But on Wednesday, Ber’Nyah Mayo and Angelique Ngalakulondi had their way against St. Bonaventure (12-10, 4-7 Atlantic 10.)
Mayo finished with a season high 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting. Mayo added three rebounds, an assist and two steals. Ngalakulondi had a career high 20 points, shooting an efficient 9-for-10 from the field.
Ngalakunlondi’s 20-point outburst comes after previous games saw more of a decreased role in terms of offense as of late. Coming into Wednesday’s game, Ngalakulondi was averaging just 4.2 points a contest over the past six games. Ngalakulondi had not reached double digits in scoring since January 15th. UMass (18-5, 6-3 A-10) made a point to get Ngalakulondi involved early, as she had six points within the first three minutes of the game.
“We wanted to pound the ball inside,” UMass head coach Tory Verdi said. “We knew that we would have a size advantage, we wanted to get their interior post players in foul trouble so we wanted to attack on the interior … I thought we did a great job of that here tonight.”
The Minutewomen knew the Bonnies would double Breen which opened up Ngalakulondi to get drop off passes.
With just about a minute gone in the second half Ngalakulondi missed her only shot of the night, but in her typical fashion she followed up the missed shot with an offensive rebound. Ngalakulondi then muscled through an Asianae Johnson foul and got the put back to go with a chance for a 3-point play.
As for Ber’Nyah Mayo, the sophomore guard showed off her ability to score on all three levels. Mayo was able to get a multitude of open looks from beyond the arc and cash in on those looks, going 4-for-7 from distance.
Mayo has been shooting the ball from downtown well as of late as in the past four games, including tonight, she has knocked down 50 percent of her attempts from outside.
“I thought Ber’Nyah was fantastic,” Verdi said. “She played 40 minutes, no turnovers, and had 18 points…her stat line is just incredible.”
Mayo showcased a bit of her in between game as early in the second quarter. Mayo caught the ball around the top of the key and drove hard into the lane then stopped on a dime and sent her defender flying as she canned a one legged jump shot from just inside the free throw line.
Additionally, Mayo displayed her ability to finish as an undersized guard. With 36 seconds to go in the first quarter Mayo drove hard and converted a tough right hand layup through contact.
For the Minutewomen, having a balanced attack going into the A-10 tournament is something that should prove to be very difficult for opposing teams to defend.
If Ngalakulondi can get back to being consistent on the offensive end and Mayo can maintain the level that she has been playing at the Minutewomen are going to be a tough team to face in the postseason.
UMass will now head back to Amherst to play George Mason this Friday. Tipoff is set for 12 p.m.
James DiLuca can be reached at [email protected].
