Entering today’s contest against Davidson the Massachusetts women’s basketball team held a 9-1 record when playing on the road this season. However, the Wildcats rose to the occasion and gave the Minutewomen their best, defeating them 76-67.
“I thought [Davidson] did a great job of coming out and playing with emotion and want to,” UMass head coach Tory Verdi said. “You have got to credit [Davidson] for playing as hard as they did.”
The Wildcat’s (14-12, 5-9 Atlantic 10) success against UMass (21-6, 9-4 A-10) can in large part be attributed to unselfish play. Throughout the game Davidson looked to drive and kick which set up many wide-open looks. Out of the Wildcat’s 24 made shots, 16 were assisted.
Because of Davidson’s ball movement, four players ended in double figures. Chloe Welch had a team-high 16 points. Issy Morgan added 15 and Suzi-Rose Deegan finished with 10. Before fouling out with roughly seven minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Elle Sutphin was on her way to potential double-double with 13 points and 7 rebounds.
Despite Davidson being in control for the majority off the game the Minutewomen were constantly on their heels.
In the fourth quarter UMass had multiple chances to put themselves in position to have a chance of winning. Down five with 36 seconds to go, the Minutewomen got the ball in the hands of their best player Sam Breen. Breen drove inside, but Davidson’s Morgan slid in front of Breen and took a charge.
With just under two minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Ber’Nyah Mayo came up with a steal and looked to push the ball in transition. Mayo tried to get the ball over to Philoxy who was running the floor, but the pass got tipped and knocked out of bounds, giving the Wildcats possession. Davidson would capitalize on the opportunity, as Morgan got right to the rim for a layup to put her team up 70-64 with 1:28 to go.
“There are things that we could have done but we got to play harder and we got to compete,” said Verdi. “We got to have a toughness about us for 40 minutes.”
After not attempting a single shot in the first half, Destiny Philoxy got it going in the third quarter, converting three and-one opportunities in the period. Philoxy’s first and-one bucket was perhaps her most difficult as she drove left and opted for a lefty scoop shot that she was able to sneak in under the outstretched arms of Morgan. Following the slow start, Philoxy finished with 10 points.
Breen was one of the few bright spots for the Minutewomen as she finished with 26 points and nine rebounds. Mayo and Sydney Taylor both struggled from the field going a combined 4-of-19.
UMass was hurt by its inability to knock down the three ball, going 2-18 from distance on the day.
“You can’t be 2-18 from the three-point line,” said Verdi postgame. “If we’re able to knock down three-point shots it opens up everything else.”
In contrast Davidson hit 10 out of its 24 attempts from deep. Six of those makes came in the first quarter as Davidson came out of the gates hot.
UMass will return to Amherst to play its last home game of the season against VCU this coming Wednesday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
James DiLuca can be reached at [email protected].
