McCormick’s Buzzer-Beater Lifts Minutewomen Over Liberty, 64-61

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Liberty	15	11	17	18	61
Massachusetts	20	13	17	14	64

Liberty

Massachusetts

AMHERST, Mass. – Paige McCormick drained a right-corner three as time expired to lift University of Massachusetts women's basketball over Liberty, 64-61, on Saturday at the Mullins Center. The game was the final contest of the inaugural UMass Thanksgiving Classic, which also included Houston and Northeastern.

The win snaps a three-game slide for the Minutewomen, who improve to an even 3-3, while Liberty is now 1-4 on the season.

McCormick's shot was set up on a nice pass from the top by Bre Hampton-Bey, who found a wide open McCormick calling for the ball in the corner.

UMass had three double-figure scoring performances, including 19 points from Genesis Rivera, 14 from McCormick and 11 coming from Hailey Leidel. At the other end of the floor, Maggie Mulligan logged four blocks. Liberty's KK Barbour had a game-high 24 points on 8-of-20 shooting and added 13 rebounds to secure a double-double.

As a team the Minutewomen were 20-of-45 (44.4 percent) from the field, including a 9-of-21 (42.9 percent) clip from three-point range. Liberty shot an even 39 percent (23-of-59) and was 6-for-17 (35.3 percent) from downtown.

Massachusetts opened the game with an 8-2 run, which wrapped up on a layup by McCormick at the 7:45 mark. A three-pointer immediately beforehand by Jessica George rimmed out, but McCormick was there to grab the offensive board and go up for two second chance points.

Defensively UMass stepped up in the second quarter to keep Liberty at just 28.6 percent from the field (4-of-14). Rivera had six points and Leah McDerment dished out three assists, the last of which came when McDerment found Rivera at the near right wing for a triple that swished through as time expired. That sent the Minutewomen into the locker room with a 33-26 advantage.

Although Massachusetts would swell its lead up to as much as nine in the third stanza, the Lady Flames chipped away in the final period, getting within one at 59-58 with 2:19 on the clock after a Nene Johnson jumper.

That set the stage for a thrilling finish. Hampton-Bey forced an Ola Makurat turnover with 21 seconds left, allowing head coach Tory Verdi to use a timeout while still clinging to a one-point lead. Two quick Liberty fouls then sent Leidel to the line for a pair that she would ultimately drain, giving the Minutewomen a 61-58 lead.

The Lady Flames then called a timeout to advance the ball before Barbour would knock down a game-tying three with 8.1 seconds on the clock. At that point, UMass used its final timeout to facilitate McCormick's heroics. After McCormick hit the buzzer-beating shot the officials immediately looked at the play on the replay monitor, vaulting the Minutewomen into celebration with confirmation that the basket counted.

Makurat had 12 points for Liberty in the loss.

A three-game swing in Texas now awaits the Minutewomen, who kick off their trip on Wed., Nov. 29 at Incarnate Word. Tipoff from San Antonio is scheduled for 7 p.m. Eastern Time.

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