The Massachusetts women’s basketball team dominated in every facet of the game as it trounced Rhode Island 78-57 on Thursday night.
In an anticipated matchup between the top two teams in the Atlantic 10 conference, it was all gas no brakes from start to finish for UMass. The Minutewomen (22-4, 12-1 Atlantic 10) jumped out to an 11 point lead by the end of the first period due to a 9-0 run to start the game.
“Our energy and our effort was off the charts,” head coach Tory Verdi said. “We were connected. Every possession mattered. I’m extremely proud of how we executed on both sides of the ball.”
Now four months into the season, UMass has displayed chemistry between every player.
With just over four minutes to go in the first quarter, Destiney Philoxy dribbled down in transition offense before tossing a pass to Ber’Nyah Mayo under the basket from just inside half court. Mayo dished the ball away the moment it hit her fingertips on a touch pass to Sam Breen, who scored in stride.
“We’re playing our best basketball now,” Verdi said. “You go back to December and early January, our chemistry wasn’t there. I know for a fact that I communicated that to [the media]. I feel like we’re hitting all cylinders right now.”
The victory marks the first time UMass has taken a win over URI (21-4, 12-1 A-10) since Dec. 8, 2020. In the previous meeting between the two teams on Jan. 4, the Minutewomen lost to URI 68-75.
“It’s a revenge game for us,” Verdi said. “Obviously the first time we played them we didn’t play well. We got out-played, we got out-coached, we got out-everything. I promise you, there wasn’t one day that went by that I didn’t think about that game.”
The Minutewomen out rebounded the Rams 51-29, and reaped the rewards as it scored 21 second chance points.
Sydney Taylor recorded her second career double-double with a game-high 18 points as well as a game-high ten rebounds. She also registered one assist, one block, and two steals.
“We only play a couple of teams twice and it happened to be Rhode Island so it’s big for us,” Taylor said. “Going into the tournament and trying to get that conference championship, that regular season [championship], so that’s big for us, and a lot of preparation went into it ahead of time.”
Earlier this season, Verdi mentioned that playing power-five schools like Tennessee would prepare them for high intensity conference games down the stretch. It’s safe to say it paid off big time against URI.
“I wrote it on the board and I told my team that they were ready for this moment,” Verdi said. “We played the non-conference schedule that we played for this reason. It prepared us.”
The Minutewomen are currently tied for the longest consecutive win streak in program history with 11 wins. The start of the streak dates back to the team’s Jan. 7 road win over Loyola.
The win on Thursday night not only snapped URI’s 12-game win streak, but it also tied UMass with the Rams for first place in the A-10 conference. If both teams win out, the current tiebreaker would be the record against the conference’s next-best opponent.
If the season concluded today, the opponent would be Fordham, who the Minutewomen have defeated twice. URI will face Fordham on Feb. 22.
UMass will look to extend its win streak to 12 games and make history when it hosts Davidson on Sunday, Feb. 19. Tipoff is scheduled for 12 p.m.
Michael Araujo can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @araujo_michael_.Minut
