Women’s Basketball Begins Texas Swing Wednesday at Incarnate Word

University of Massachusetts Women's Basketball Game Notes
Game 5	Massachusetts (3-3 overall) at Incarnate Word (1-5 overall)
Date \| Time (ET)	Wednesday, Nov. 29 \| 7 p.m.
Location	Alice P. McDermott Convocation Center; San Antonio, Texas
Series History	First Meeting
Game Notes	Massachusetts \| Incarnate Word
Live Statistics	Sidearm Sports
Listen	91.1 FM WMUA \| WMUA Online
Tickets	(210) 805-3000 \| UIW Athletics Ticket Office
Watch	Stretch Internet
Twitter	@UMassWBB \| @UMassAthletics \| @CoachVerdiUMass
Instagram	UMass Women's Basketball \| UMass Athletics

Setting The Scene
University of Massachusetts women's basketball returns to the Central Time Zone this week to kick off a three-game swing in Texas. The Minutewomen begin the stretch in San Antonio on Wed., Nov. 29 night at Incarnate Word in a rendezvous scheduled for 7 p.m. Eastern Time.

This trio of contests marks the first time UMass has visited the Lone Star State since the 2014-15 season. During that campaign the Minutewomen split a pair of matchups at the Hospitality Hill Challenge in Denton, Texas, knocking off North Texas before falling to Florida State.

Recap In A Minute
Massachusetts was most recently in action on Sat., Nov. 25, knocking off Liberty at the buzzer in a 64-61 decision at the Mullins Center to wrap up the UMass Thanksgiving Classic. UMass never trailed on the day, but was forced to weather a late rally by the Lady Flames. Liberty's KK Barbour banked home a game-tying three with 8.1 seconds on the clock, setting the stage for Paige McCormick to counter with a triple of her own as time expired and vault her team into celebration.

UMass shot 44.4 percent from the floor and also outrebounded the Lady Flames by a 32-29 margin. Genesis Rivera (19), McCormick (14) and Hailey Leidel (11) all posted double-figure scoring efforts while Rivera also led the squad with six rebounds.

UMass and the Southland Conference
The Minutewomen have played only one previous contest against a current member of the Southland Conference, taking down Stephen F. Austin, 71-63 on Nov. 25, 2006 in Tampa, Florida. In spite of a 37-25 halftime deficit and 14 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes, UMass came out on fire in the second stanza and would use a pair of big runs to rally for the victory.

Tamara Tatham (15 points, 10 rebounds) had her seventh career double-double that night and Pam Rosanio and Kate Mills each chipped in 12 points to help UMass improve to 5-0 on the season.

'Twas A Classic Indeed
Massachusetts makes the trip to the Lone Star State on the heels of hosting the inaugural UMass Thanksgiving Classic from Nov. 24-25 at the Mullins Center. After spending the Thanksgiving holiday together as a team in Amherst, the Minutewomen welcomed Houston, Liberty and in-state foe Northeastern for the two-day event. Houston finished the weekend undefeated while UMass and Northeastern posted split efforts.

It's Free; We'll Take It
UMass ranks second in the Atlantic 10 in free throw percentage (76.4 percent). That figure is in part composed by two perfect nights at the charity stripe. In the Minutewomen's season-opener on Nov. 10, UMass drained all 22 attempts from the line against Maine-Fort Kent, before turning in a perfect 14-of-14 effort against Northeastern on Nov. 24.

George Washington narrowly sits ahead of the Maroon and White for the conference lead in the category (76.8 percent).

Feels Like The First Time
Observant fans will notice that the non-conference schedule for the Minutewomen features six opponents with which the Maroon and White have not previously crossed paths. That group includes Maine-Fort Kent (Nov. 10), Towson (Nov. 12), North Dakota (Nov. 19), Incarnate Word (Nov. 28), UT Rio Grande Valley (Dec. 1) and Fisher College (Dec. 7).

Triple The Fun
Sophomore Hailey Leidel drained 6-of-12 three-pointers in the Nov. 10 season opener against Maine-Fort Kent at the Mullins Center. In recording those six makes, Leidel finished in a tie for second in program history for triples in a single game. Former Minutewoman Alyx Stiff also posted six buckets from downtown against George Washington on Jan. 21, 2017, while Cierra Dillard owns the top mark with seven at Rhode Island on Feb. 24, 2016.

Over The Century Mark
In recording a 111-45 triumph over Maine-Fort Kent on Nov. 10, UMass surpassed the 100-point mark for the first time since Dec. 13, 1980 when the squad defeated Vermont, 105-74. Additionally, the UMFK result reset a program record for largest margin of victory (65), which previously stood at 51.

UMass Adds Five During Early Signing Period
University of Massachusetts women's basketball and head coach Tory Verdi welcomed five new members to the program on Mon., Nov. 13, as Alexa Kellner (Stamford, Connecticut), Madison Lowery (Virginia Beach, Virginia), Asia McCoy (Lawrenceville, Georgia), Jessica Nelson (Buford, Georgia) and Destiny Philoxy (Queens, New York) signed their respective National Letters of Intent. Regarded as one of the highest-caliber classes in program history, the group was ranked No. 57 nationally by Blue Star Basketball as well as No. 62 in the country by PASS.

Leidel, Mulligan Collect A-10 Preseason Recognition
Hailey Leidel and Maggie Mulligan received Atlantic 10 Preseason All-Conference Team as announced by the league office on Oct. 23. Leidel was placed on the All-Conference Second Team, while Mulligan earned herself a spot on the All-Conference Third Team.

Welcome To The Show!
UMass welcomes seven newcomers in 2017-18 in Alexia Allesch (Basking Ridge, New Jersey), Autumn Giles (Fort Myers, Florida), Bre Hampton-Bey (Toledo, Ohio), Paige McCormick (Ogdensburg, New York), Vashnie Perry (Nashville, Tennessee), Genesis Rivera (Caracas, Venezuela) and Anil Soysal (Istanbul, Turkey).

We're Telling The Truth, No Lying Here
Now-sophomore Hailey Leidel took home Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year honors in 2016-17 after averaging 15.5 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game, ranking fourth in scoring among all NCAA rookies. She tied a UMass program record with 78 made 3-pointers and set program-bests among freshmen in in scoring (465), three-point field goals made, and free throws made (111).

Candice Finley Joins UMass As Assistant Coach
University of Massachusetts women's basketball head coach Tory Verdi announced in May the addition of Candice Finley as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. The addition of Finley reunited the duo after they worked together for four years at Eastern Michigan. The native of Detroit earned a bachelor's degree from Eastern Kentucky in 2002, then played professionally in Luxembourg for a season.

Next Up
After Wednesday's tilt in San Antonio, Massachusetts heads to UT Rio Grande Valley for the two-day UTRGV Battle on the Border. The Minutewomen square off with host UTRGV on Fri., Dec. 1 at 8 p.m. Eastern Time and wrap up the weekend against Mississippi State on Sat., Nov. 2 at 1 p.m. Eastern Time.

UMass Women's Basketball On Social Media
Follow UMass women's basketball on Twitter (@UMassWBB), Instagram (UMassWBB) and Facebook (UMass Women's Basketball) for the latest news and updates around the team.

Scoreboard

Women’s Basketball Begins Texas Swing Wednesday at Incarnate Word

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Alexia Allesch

Autumn Giles

Bre Hampton-Bey

Hailey Leidel

Paige McCormick

Maggie Mulligan

Vashnie Perry

Genesis Rivera

Anil Soysal

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics