The Massachusetts women’s basketball team’s late comeback surge was thwarted by Davidson in a 67-76 heartbreaking loss. After falling into a 20-6 hole in the first quarter, UMass was stuck playing catch-up, a trend that’s happened many times during the season. Only this time, the Minutewomen couldn’t dig their way out.
UMass (21-6, 9-4 Atlantic 10) was seeking out its seventh straight victory, but Davidson (14-12, 5-9 Atlantic 10) played with such intense energy that uplifted them throughout the course of the game.
Even with the loss, Breen once again proved her reliability by going for 26 points, lead the team with nine rebounds and added three assists on 11-for-20 shooting. Sunday’s game marks the 24th time she’s scored in double figures this season. However, Breen’s effectiveness was hindered by the fact that the Wildcats were able to adjust their defensive scheme to make her the priority. She was frequently double-teamed and lost five turnovers. Davidson challenged someone else to beat it besides Breen, and UMass was unable to answer that call. The rest of the team shot a collective 14-for-44.
In the height of the Minutewomen’s comeback, Breen sat right under the hoop during the 10-0 UMass run in hopes to grab the offensive rebound if her teammates shot didn’t fall. To start the fourth, Breen grabbed the board of Ber’Nyah Mayo’s miss and put two more in for the Minutewomen. A few minutes later, Destiney Philoxy’s steal was dished to Breen on the run for another two.
“Give Davidson credit,” head coach Tory Verdi said. “I thought that they came out with a sense of urgency and a want-to that we haven’t seen… We’ll learn from this and continue to get better.”
Davidson’s 3-point shooting catapulted it to an early lead. It attacked the gaps, forced the help defense, then kicked out to the open shooter time after time. The Wildcats buried 6 of their 10 triples in the first quarter, stunning the Minutewomen, who converted only two 3-pointers on 18 tries – an 11 percent shooting clip from a team that’s averaging 32.5 percent from the arc on the season. Breen got one of her two 3-point shot attempts to fall and assisted the only other make from Mayo. UMass now ranks dead last in the A-10 conference in opponent 3-point percentage at 32.8 percent.
Breen could be seen huddling up her squad and communicating with the team in between plays, especially during plays that didn’t go UMass’ way.
“We gotta stick together through the adversity,” Verdi said. “I don’t think we did a great job of [communicating] here today. I don’t think our players did, I don’t think I did it.”
In the final minute of the game, Breen went 1-for-2 from the free throw line to cut the deficit to five. After a defensive stop by the Minutewomen, they had the opportunity to score and make it a one-possession game. With the game on the line, the Wildcat’s Issy Morgan made the play of the game when put her body on the line and set her feet in front of a driving Breen, who got called for a charging foul.
“Being out-worked and out-toughed is not who we are,” Verdi said. “And that was frustrating to watch.”
UMass will play its final home game at the Mullins Center when it hosts VCU on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Michael Araujo can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @araujo_michael_ .
