Up one point with eight seconds remaining in regulation, Destiney Philoxy calmly stepped up to the free throw line, showing no signs of anxiety.
Prior to the intentional foul by Saint Louis, the designed play was to find Philoxy after she inbounded the ball, signaling the trust her coaches and her teammates had in her to put the game away.
Philoxy clutched up under pressure and swished both foul shots. Despite a miscommunication on defense for Saint Louis’ final shot, the Massachusetts women’s basketball team escaped with a 69-66 victory at the Mullins Center.
It was a hard fought battle by both teams but UMass (17-5, 5-3 Atlantic 10) fell behind early but was able to claw their way back and fend off the Billikens (6-13, 2-5 A-10) long enough for time to expire.
“Our guards did an exceptional job,” head coach Tory Verdi said, “The combintion of Sydney [Taylor] and Ber’Nyah [Mayo] and then Destiney had great moments when attacking downhill and getting to the rim and finishing. That was key for us … coming out of timeout Destiney’s rip and drive reverse layup was pretty special as well.”
Down by nine halfway through the first quarter, the Minutewomen were in danger of suffering yet another slow start. Philoxy helped to turn the tide of the battle when she retrieved the ball after another empty UMass possession by intercepting a careless pass and banking home a double-clutch layup through contact for the old-fashioned three-point play. She failed to hit the extra free throw but retained the ball thanks to Sam Breen keeping the play alive and allowing Philoxy to hit a three at the top of the key. Philoxy was at the forefront of nearly every run and every momentum shift and finished with 20 points on 8-for-12 shooting.
Philoxy’s offensive outburst was only one side of the story for her strong night. She had her hands full on defense as well, attempting to guard the dynamic Ciaja Harbison, who could stop on a dime and pull up from mid-range or carve up the defense and finish inside at will.
Both guards traded buckets late in the contest. Less than two minutes of game clock left, Philoxy jab stepped at the top of the key and made Harbison budge. As soon as she bit on the pump fake, Philoxy stepped on the gas and finished off the glass. Harbison was unfazed after the defensive breakdown and answered with a three-pointer at the top of the arch. Every shot Philoxy made, Harbison was able to respond, and vice versa. Harbison tallied 27 points on 11-for-21 shooting.
Harbison was not the only tough matchup Philoxy encountered. six-foot-five senior Brooke Flowers was a force to be reckoned with down low. She averages 10.6 points and 11.2 rebounds and is alongside Breen as the only other player in the A-10 conference to average a double-double. Flowers also averages 3.4 blocks per game, the third best in the nation. She had two on Saturday.
“Harbison is one of the best players in the A-10,” Verdi said. “You look at the size of Flowers and it’s a tough team to play against. We’re really fortunate and really excited about this win.”
To no one’s surprise, Philoxy excelled as a distributor. She recorded 6 assists, including a perfect bounce pass to Breen off the inbound pass where she threaded the needle between two defenders to set up Breen for the easy two points.
Philoxy drew four fouls in addition to three brutal charges, which made the crowd wince in pain initially, but erupt with cheers each time she got back on her feet. Unselfish plays like putting her body on the line each and every time for the betterment of her team, is the hallmark of Philoxy’s game and provides the rest of the Minutewomen with even more energy.
UMass will hit the road once again to challenge St. Bonaventure on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Michael Araujo can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @Araujo_Michael_.
