The Massachusetts women’s basketball team defeated Saint Louis 72-55 in a game of runs. UMass (7-6, 2-0 Atlantic 10) bookended the contest with a flying start and a blazing finish.
Closing games in the fourth quarter was an issue for the Minutewomen in the early goings of the season, though they refused to give up their lead in a tight matchup with the Billikens (6-9, 0-2 A-10). A shaky third quarter saw the lead that was 22 points at its highest shrink to just one. A fourth quarter resurgence negated the comeback attempt and Saint Louis ultimately never led the game.
Yahmani McKayle and Stefanie Kulesza were at the forefront of the late game run. McKayle scored two thirds of her points in the fourth quarter, while Kulesza scored seven of her career-high 21 points in the quarter. McKayle drilled two crucial 3-pointers when her team needed it most as UMass finished the game on a 17-2 run.
“It was such an opportunity for us to respond to adversity and we did,” head coach Mike Leflar said. “I just couldn’t be more proud of our group for doing that and sticking together and reasserting who we were in the fourth quarter.”
Kulesza came out of the gates firing, scoring the first bucket of the game with a silky midrange jumper. She scored eight points in the first quarter to help set the tone. Kulesza was also the team leader in rebounds with 12, grabbing five of those on the offensive glass.
The Minutewomen won the game on the boards, out rebounding the Billikens by a hefty 49-31 margin. The team grabbed 19 offensive rebounds, 16 of which came in the first half. UMass’ 21-1 second chance points advantage in the first half was the catalyst in growing a 43-23 halftime lead.
“We want [offensive rebounding] to be our identity,” Leflar said. “We talk a lot about 50-50 balls, winning that and then the rebounding. That’s who we want to be, that’s who we have been the past two games and throughout this year and I’m really proud that showed tonight.”
Nearly every aspect of the game was going well for the Minutewomen up until the beginning of the second half. Saint Louis embarked on a 23-5 run during a time period in which UMass shot a measly 1-for-9. The deficit was cut to 52-51 with just under eight minutes remaining in the game.
“They jumped on us in the third quarter, they upped their intensity,” Leflar said. “We shied away from the pressure a little bit, both with the ball and without the ball.”
Megan Olbrys was the second Minutewoman of the night to earn a double-double on the stat sheet, scoring 18 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. She continuously pulled the defense in and drew fouls, allowing her to shoot 10-for-12 from the free throw stripe. The attention Olbrys commanded opened the game up for Kulesza to collect a double-double of her own.
Leflar kept the rotation thin in the conference matchup, capping it at seven players. Lilly Ferguson and McKayle were the two members of the team to enter the game off the bench. Aleah Sorrentino and Dallas Pierce did not see minutes.
“I was comfortable with the substitutions we made and who we played and I thought that was appropriate for the game,” Leflar said. “The players who didn’t play tonight had a hand in this win because they’re the ones who have to execute what we’re doing on the scout team and what we’re doing when we’re preparing for other team’s offenses.”
UMass is now above .500 for the first time in 2024-25 and is undefeated across its first two A-10 tests. The Minutewomen will return to the Mullins Center to play the 10-5 Richmond Spiders on Sunday, Jan. 5. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. and the game can be streamed live on ESPN+.
“The only thing I want to take away and I want our team to take away is to start understanding that this is the team that we are,” Leflar said. “The team that we’ve been the last month and every day at practice, take ownership of that. Keep showing up every single day willing to learn and ready to work.”
Cameron Pellegrino can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @cam_pellegrino.
