A third quarter implosion spelled disaster for the Massachusetts women’s basketball team, as it fell 77-75 to the Saint Louis Billikens on Wednesday night.
It was sunshine and rainbows for UMass (23-5, 13-2 Atlantic 10) in the first half. Riding a 12-game win streak, the Minutewomen enjoyed a satisfactory start to the game as they shot 17-for-33 (51.5 percent) from the field and 7-of-10 from the 3-point line.
After the break at halftime, while UMass took its foot off the gas, Saint Louis (13-17, 9-6 A-10) drove full speed ahead and ripped off a 16-2 run in the third period.
“We were not connected here [Wednesday],” head coach Tory Verdi said. “We did not play together. We did not execute on both sides of the ball.”
The Minutewomen lost their composure and went ice cold to start the second half, as they shot a collective 2-11 from the field. UMass managed six points in the entire third frame and was outscored 20-6.
“They played harder, made things difficult for us and we didn’t play UMass basketball here [Wednesday],” Verdi said. “Their defense was really good here [Wednesday] and then we allowed them to get confidence and they knocked down shots. But we did not execute and we did not play together [Wednesday] and we’re gonna learn from this.”
Following two made free throws from Destiney Philoxy and a mid-range jump shot from Makennah White, the Billikens’ Camre Clegg made three straight 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions to give her team the lead. The 9-0 run prompted a Verdi timeout, but the huddle was not enough to stop the bleeding.
Saint Louis superstar Brooke Flowers flashed some fancy footwork before spinning off White and towards the cup, where she got the shot to fall off the glass to make it 11 straight points for the Billikens.
“We didn’t defend, we didn’t stay in front of the ball,” Verdi said. “It was almost like they got wherever they wanted to. They were driving by us. They were driving and kicking. We’ve got to be better than that.”
The Minutewomen’s defensive frustrations amounted to foul trouble as well. After having just four fouls in the first half, the team committed six fouls in the third quarter alone. Saint Louis’ 6-for-14 shooting in the frame would have been less costly had it not been for the squads near-perfect 5-for-6 accuracy from the charity stripe.
In the third period, Sydney Taylor collected two fouls and was forced to sit for extended time before fouling out in the final frame. Ber’Nyah Mayo fouled out of the game as well.
Shooting 2-13 from the field is not a recipe for success. However, it was the Minutewomen’s lack of steals, rebounds and overall energy that amounted to the upset loss. The Billikens controlled the glass 45-35 and took advantage of all their opportunities.
“They were just moving faster than we were [Wednesday],” Verdi said. “That’s clearly what they were doing… They got every 50/50 ball. They jammed us up. They took balls from us. We didn’t have toughness here [Wednesday].”
UMass will close out its regular season slate with a home game against George Washington on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 4 p.m. In addition to the game being senior night, it is also the Minutewomen’s opportunity to potentially be crowned A-10 regular season champions with a win.
Michael Araujo can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @araujo_michael_.
