The clock read eight seconds. Saint Joseph’s had the ball on the inbounds, down only one. Sydney Taylor sat down in a defensive stance, cutting off the baseline and forcing Mackenzie Smith into a tough shot. The Massachusetts women’s basketball team snagged the rebound, Destiney Philoxy was sent to the line hanging onto a minuscule advantage.
Philoxy went 1-2 at the charity stripe, putting the ball back in the hands of the Hawks with just two seconds to either tie or take the game. Sam Breen face guarded Talya Brugler, making it clear that if the Saint Joseph’s sophomore wanted to be a hero, she would have to earn it. Brugler missed, the buzzer sounded and despite spending 31 minutes and 11 seconds losing, UMass (13 – 4, 3-1 Atlantic 10) defeated the Hawks (14-3, 4-1 A-10) 58-56 in Amherst.
“I thought our defense down the stretch was impeccable,” head coach Tory Verdi said. “Collectively we did a great job preparing our players to go out there and be successful.”
With just four minutes to play in the game, the Mullins Center boos echoed as Ber’Nayh Mayo was called for an offensive foul. The negative sound effects didn’t last long, as a group of local elementary school girls basketball players sitting in the stands started a defense chant. Verdi pumped his arms up, encouraging the crowd to ride the energy wave that his team put on display. A minute later, Breen hit two foul shots to make it a 55-51 lead before two easy buckets brought things back to a one point game.
The fourth quarter lead for the Minutewomen was momentum shifting, as they spent most of the contest fighting a quality performance from A-10 rival Saint Joseph’s. As the clock winded before halftime, a triple from Philoxy at the buzzer tied things up at 30. Instead of building off that momentum heading out of the break, UMass caved in, falling behind by 10 after a Laura Ziegler jumper made it 42-32. Simple backdoor passes gave the Hawks easy layups, in an effort led by Brugler who hadn’t scored until the tail end of the second quarter but started the second half with four layups.
With just under three to play in the third quarter, Mayo drove, kicked it to Kristin Williams in the corner who made the extra pass to Taylor for the triple. 44 seconds later, Taylor hit another 3-pointer, cutting the deficit to four with two minutes to play in the third. Williams was one of three non starters who productively impacted the game on Saturday. Williams along with Stefanie Kulesza and Piath Gabriel had important minutes off the bench. Following the loss to Rhode Island, different line ups were a possibility mentioned by Verdi.
“They came in and did exactly what we need,” Verdi said. “I thought they did their job today and they did it well … when you look at the stat sheet it may not be overwhelming but it doesn’t show the body of work that I thought [they] did today.”
Even with the fresh legs off the bench providing for UMass, the veterans carried for four quarters, especially Mayo. Mayo single handily altered the Minutewomen offense, giving her team the control, effort, and pace it needed to succeed down the stretch. She started being more aggressive, her pace, in transition, Verdi was feeding into that, strategically thinking where he wanted to put the ball late in the game. Giving into Mayo’s confidence, Verdi felt she could make things happen, which she did. Mayo’s scoring abilities matched perfectly with Makennah White’s vocal energy, “she was the glue,” Verdi said of White, who finished with 10 points, five boards and four steals. Mayo had 19 points, three assists and three rebounds, most her success coming in the latter half.
For a reason still unknown to Verdi, UMass is still starting games on the wrong foot, turning the ball over, poor shot selection and allowing teams to catch fire early. UMass shot 29.4 percent in the first quarter compared to 50 percent in the fourth, turning the ball over four times in the opening minutes. On the defensive end, the Minutewomen forced eight first quarter turnovers from the Hawks, with six of them coming in a two and a half minute series.
Olivia Mullins started the game with three early 3-pointers, giving UMass difficulty. Once Mayo played tighter defense, Mullins drove but the Minutewomen shifted in timely fashion, trapping on the low block with a double team, forcing Mullins to turn the ball over.
“I just told my team that i am extremely proud of them, our effort, there are going to be games where you don’t play well and you have to figure out a way to win,” Verdi said. “We’re not playing our best basketball, we have things to work on and we are still finding ways to win so that’s the exciting thing.”
Looking ahead, UMass heads to the Bronx to take on Fordham for another tough conference match up. Tip off on Jan. 18 is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Lulu Kesin can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @lulukesin.
