An all-too-familiar sight for La Salle is hundreds of screaming children on Field Trip Day at the Mullins Center. However, this year’s rendition went in UMass’ favor, as it cruised to an 82-66 victory. The Minutewomen (9-8, 4-2 Atlantic 10) made basketball look easy with a 28-point first quarter, including a 17-0 run, to take a lead they never surrendered.
The Explorers (7-12, 1-5 A-10) were the opponent in last year’s Field Trip Day as well. La Salle won that game in a tight 63-61 finish, but the new-look UMass was able to exact its revenge this time around.
“It’s a great environment to be in for sure,” forward Megan Olbrys said. “Even though some half of them probably don’t even know what they’re yelling about, it’s just the energy that just helps in the game.”
The story of the Minutewomen’s day cannot be told without Olbrys and Stefanie Kulesza, as the pair dominated the contest. Olbrys had 22 points and nine rebounds and Kulesza had 19 points and nine rebounds. The pesky Yahmani McKayle added 12 points of her own as well. Team-wise, UMass had 20 assists and 14 offensive rebounds whilst controlling the game.
The 82 points scored was the team’s highest scoring total of the entire season thus far. The Minutewomen averaged well over a point per possession throughout the matinee and had the lead for 37 of the 40 total minutes of game time, with no real threat of ever losing it.
”Great effort by Massachusetts tonight,” La Salle head coach Mountain MacGillivray said. “I mean, they came out and matched the intensity of the children in the stands and they really came out with a lot of fight. We didn’t have an answer early and that was disappointing.”
Having hundreds of children on its side was imperative to UMass’ success on Wednesday. Every time the jumbotron had a “Get Loud” or “Defense” graphic, every kid in the building screeched at the top of their lungs.
“I think it’s really motivating to be able to play in front of so many little kids,” Kulesza said. “I remember when I used to look up to Elena Delle Donne and Lauren Carra when they played at the University of Delaware when I was younger, I really wanted to play like them, so to be able to do that for more kids and more little kids just makes me really happy.”
On the Explorers’ side of the ball, Ashleigh Connor and Joan Quinn had 13 points each and Mackenzie Daleba scored 12 points. La Salle shot just 17 percent from 3.
“[Connor’s] been great for us,” MacGillivray said. “She does a really good job of taking care of the ball and scoring for us and defending. The way she rebounds the ball for a point guard is tremendous.”
UMass is coming into its own early in A-10 play, holding a 4-2 record in the conference. The Minutewomen will turn their attention to Saint Joseph’s on Saturday, Jan. 18. Tipoff is set for 12 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
“The group’s really likable, to be honest,” head coach Mike Leflar said. “Coaches don’t talk about that in the media too often because they don’t want to pull back the curtain, but we’ve had a likable team since the summer. I love coaching them. I knew we would continue to get better as long as they kept buying in. And that’s what we’re doing. I’m excited, we have some momentum.”
Owen Shelffo can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @owen_shelffo.
