The Massachusetts women’s basketball team took control of the paint on Wednesday night to grab an 87-62 win over Loyola Chicago.
The Minutewomen (15-12, 10-6 Atlantic 10) liked what they saw inside, scoring 50 of their 87 total points in the paint. They continued to feed the ball to their most reliable post, Villanova transfer Megan Olbrys. Olbrys was relentless in the post, finishing with 23 points.
“Obviously, we go inside to [Olbrys] a lot,” head coach Mike Leflar said. “Getting the ball inside, willingness to share the ball, understanding what we want from our offenses. There’s a credit to our guards for understanding that.”
With all the opportunities to score in the post, Olbrys notched a new career-high in points as 23 is her new number to beat. She also snagged 13 rebounds, recording her seventh double-double of the season against the Ramblers (11-16, 3-13 A-10).
After shaking off a few turnovers in the opening minutes of the game, the Minutewomen never looked back. The Ramblers kept themselves in the game in the second quarter but could not close the deficit to one possession. When Loyola Chicago found itself within four points of tying the score, UMass turned on the jets and added seven points to its tally before the Ramblers could get any closer.
“Despite a tough maybe three or four minutes with turnovers, I know we had five quick ones, we really tightened up after that and played great,” Leflar said. “I thought the sense of urgency picked up when it needed to.”
It wasn’t just Olbrys who saw action on Wednesday night, she shared the ball with fifth-year Stefanie Kulesza and freshman Yahmani McKayle. Kulesza and McKayle are both familiar names in the box score as they have each contributed impressive numbers all around for their team this season. Kulesza finished the night with 19 points and eight rebounds and McKayle added 15 points and eight assists, proving their respective titles as reigning Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week.
“To have a team that has multiple award winners on it, I think speaks to the balance and it speaks to how dangerous we can be if we just keep plugging away and showing up every day and working hard … that’s what this group does and I’m proud of them for that,” Leflar said.
The Minutewomen put a large emphasis on pushing the ball up the court whenever possible and stopped the Ramblers from getting similar opportunities as well. With 24 points via fastbreak points alone, UMass dominated the transition game. Loyola Chicago could not answer with these points of their own because of the strong press that the Minutewomen showed for the majority of the game. The Ramblers ran out of time on three separate occasions against UMass’ immense pressure.
“We were fortunate that we made good decisions and they went in today,” Leflar said. “We do want to get some easier baskets … started focusing a little more on that again a few weeks ago, so it was nice to see it pay off tonight.”
With only two games left in the regular season, the Minutewomen will play their final home game against the Rhode Island Rams on Sunday, Feb. 23. UMass will also celebrate its four seniors in the Mullins Center on Sunday. The rivalry game will be streamed on ESPN+ and tipoff is set for 1 p.m.
“Our hard work has certainly paid off this year,” Leflar said. “I think individually and as a group we are so much of a different team and a much more improved team than we were when we first took the floor.”
Rachel Toth can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @RachelToth46.
