The Massachusetts women’s basketball team routed Saint Peter’s in an 81-34 victory Wednesday.
UMass (9-3) welcomed Makennah White back to the rotation after she was sidelined six games with an ankle injury. She made an immediate impact off the bench and 15 points on six-of-11 shooting from the field. White also registered 11 rebounds, good for her second career double-double, to go along with three assists, one block and one steal.
“It’s great to see Makennah White back on the floor, and I think that she showed everybody what she’s capable of doing,” head coach Tory Verdi said. “She gives us that extra scoring post-player that we need. Her physicality, defensively, as well, and lastly, communication.”
During the span of Nov. 25 to Dec. 3, the Minutewomen played five games in eight days, including two tournaments. UMass went 4-1 over that timeframe, winning in the FIU Thanksgiving Classic in Miami, but losing to Missouri in the Briann January Classic in Tempe, Ariz.
Along with the games, players had to catch five different flights in a little over a week and jump in and out of time zones. The nonstop travel, coupled with the overwhelming amount of pressure that finals and exams bring, it’s safe to say that the Minutewomen had a lot on their plate with little to no down time. Before Wednesday’s game, Sam Breen along with Verdi emphasized the physical demand that class finals along with a jam packed game schedule brings.
“With classes ending, really focusing on basketball for the next month will be beneficial, extra rehab, recovery … having the mental go go go with classes, having that take a break will positively affect our bodies. Classes are stressful so having that time off will see a positive correlation with the physical aspect of our bodies,” Breen said.
UMass got a much needed 11-day break from game action after its 83-74 loss to Columbia on Dec. 10.
“The loss at Columbia was really good for us to be honest with you,” Verdi said. “There’s always a silver lining. Of course, we wanted to win, yes, I wasn’t too happy with the loss. But then you go back and you look at it and you can learn something from it. Both from a player’s perspective and a coach’s perspective, we all learned something about it. It made me individually better as a coach.”
The wake-up call turned out to be just what the team needed, as the Minutewomen came out the gates with a sense of urgency before ripping off a 32-9 run in the first half.
“As far as becoming better as a team, it gave us a little bit more time to get healthy,” Verdi said. “It gave us time to get Makennah White time on the court and that’s what she needed. [It gave] Sydney [Taylor] time to get healthy and get back on the court and do what she does.”
The blowout win against the Peacocks (0-10, 0-1 Metro Atlantic) also allowed Verdi to open up the rotation, as all eleven active players saw the floor today for the Minutewomen. The bench closed out the game, which held UMass’ starting five to its lowest minute totals of the season. Destiney Philoxy saw a team-high 28:20, nearly seven minutes less than her season average of 35 minutes per game.
“I feel like we came out pretty strong right off the jump,” Taylor said. “To come out with a big win like this and just have confidence and try to finish off non-conference strong.”
UMass will play Dartmouth at the Mullins Center next Wednesday at 7 p.m. The game will be the last before the Minutewomen begin their slate of Atlantic 10 conference games, starting with St. Bonaventure on New Year’s Eve.
Michael Araujo can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @araujo_michael_.
