Destiney Philoxy told head coach Tory Verdi it was a new year, therefore it was a new Destiney. “Well Destiney, it’s February,” Verdi responded.
While 16 days into the second month of 2023 isn’t necessarily everyone’s typical starting point for a yearly transformation, Verdi was thankful that Philoxy’s new M.O. produced 11 assists and only one turnover in the Massachusetts women’s basketball’s statement win over rival top seed in the conference, Rhode Island.
“For her to have those numbers is pretty impressive,” Verdi said of Philoxy on Thursday night. The graduate student didn’t need to put up major figures in the scoring column to hit the road with a 21 point win, instead Philoxy silenced the Ryan Center with pristine passing, defensive effort and dynamic basketball that fed into the team victory.
A major adjustment that UMass (22-4, 12-1 Atlantic 10) made coming into Thursday’s revenge tour was what Sydney Taylor described as hounding the point guards. Far too often last time the two teams met, the Rams guards were able to push the ball in transition against minimal pressure, or set up offensive plays with plenty of time on the shot clock. With intense pressure both against transition outlet passes and high man defense in a half court scheme, Rhode Island (21-4, 12-1 A-10) had trouble with its shot selection against the Minutewomen’s defensive clinic.
“That was huge for us,” Taylor said.
Just two minutes into action, Philoxy pressured Rhode Island’s Dolly Cairns from behind the arc, forcing her into a contested 3-pointer. When the ball fell in the hands of Taylor, she fed Ber’Nyah Mayo whose made 3-pointer forced Rams’ coach Tami Reiss call timeout. Despite the road game, it was all UMass.
Philoxy’s instrumental effort on defense translated to production on the other end by forcing the Rams to take unfavorable shots and capitalizing on the lackadaisical defense following the miss. Not long after, with 4:41 in quarter one, Philoxy grabbed the rebound and stopped at half court to recognize Mayo wide open under the basket. Before Mayo’s feet hit the ground as she jumped to grab Philoxy’s pass, Mayo fed Sam Breen who was even more wide open for the easy two.
As if Philoxy’s early contribution didn’t quiet down the Rams student section enough, Philoxy standing at a generous 5-feet-7-inches chased down Cairns for a block right in front of the home teams fans, keeping the lead at 10 and getting her team on their feet.
Block City, Destiney! 👋 🚫
Q2, 5:58| UMass 33, URI 23#Flagship 🚩 pic.twitter.com/oergoS1l5S
— UMass Women's Basketball (@UMassWBB) February 16, 2023
All season long, the duality in the Minutewomen’s post play mainly comes from the work of Angelique Ngalakulondi and Makennah White, both of whom Philoxy feeds down low every game. Following Thursday’s win, Verdi jokingly stated that it was Ngalakulondi’s turn to thank Philoxy for all the assists, as the post player finished with 17 points on 7-for-11, just one point shy of tying the leading scorer in Taylor on the night.
“I thought she did a great job, her length defensively and gobbled up drop off passes and finished around the rim for us,” Verdi said. “Her energy, getting back in transition … if she didn’t block a shot she altered shots and just her effort was great here today.”
It’s a good day for the Minutewomen when Verdi has Philoxy to applaud for passing and Ngalakulondi to thank for finishing. Working through a textbook pick and roll style offense, or driving and kicking, Philoxy drew the defenders in that she needed and Ngalakulondi did her part to seal off defenders, grabbing the dump passes on the low block and finishing at the rim through contact. Midway through the third, Ngalakulondi did such a fundamentally sound job of sealing off her man on the low block that she caught the inbounds pass easily and put it up for two, causing a fist bump of a reaction out of Verdi on the sideline.
“I’m always so happy for [Ngalakulondi]. I tell her all the time she controls her own minutes,” Sydney Taylor said. “If she stays out of foul trouble she could probably play the whole game, I tell her all the time just stay straight up, we need [her] on offense and defense. She stayed out of foul trouble, she was able to stay in the game and [Philoxy] found her in pick and rolls.”
Ngalakulondi paid her in game respects back to Philoxy and in timely fashion. With around 4:50 to play in the third, she hedged the screen, stuffed the entry pass and fed Philoxy on the other end for the transition layup. To start the fourth, Ngalakulondi once again hedged hard on the screen down the sideline, forcing the ball off the leg of the Rams and the next play down, the Minutewomen capitalized with a reverse layup to make it a 63-46 game. Out of a timeout, UMass threw to Ngalakulondi on the foul line who caught the high pass, turned, triple threat and fed Taylor who streaked backdoor for an and one. Taylor fell to the ground as her shot went up while Ngalakulondi’s screamed in excitement.
Arguably the most notable quarter for UMass was the first, as it held a 24-13 lead after 10 minutes and Ngalakulondi led the way with seven in the opening minutes. She finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and two assists. Philoxy had 1 turnover, 11 dishes which ties her career high and three rebounds.
The Minutewomen now look to Sunday, as they head home to greet Davidson at the Mullins Center for a 12 p.m. game.
Lulu Kesin can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @Lulukesin.
