Cross-State Trip To UMass Lowell On Docket For Women's Basketball

University of Massachusetts Women's Basketball Game Notes
Game 12	Massachusetts (7-4 overall) at UMass Lowell (3-7 overall)
Date \| Time	Wednesday, Dec. 13 \| 7:30 p.m.
Location	Costello Athletic Center; Lowell, Mass.
Series History	Massachusetts leads, 1-0. Last Meeting: Massachusetts 84, UMass Lowell 58; Dec. 30, 2015
Game Notes	Massachusetts \| UMass Lowell
Live Statistics	Sidearm Stats
Listen	91.1 FM WMUA \| WMUA Online
Tickets	(866) 722-8780 \| UMass Lowell Athletics Ticket Office
Watch	ESPN3 \| WatchESPN mobile app
Twitter	@UMassWBB \| @UMassAthletics \| @CoachVerdiUMass
Instagram	UMass Women's Basketball \| UMass Athletics

Setting The Scene
Winners in their last three, the UMass women's basketball team plays its penultimate game of the non-conference schedule on Wed., Dec. 13, visiting in-state foe UMass Lowell. Opening tip is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the Costello Athletic Center in Lowell, Massachusetts.

Wednesday's contest will be televised on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app, with Scott Sudikoff (PxP) and Helen Williams (color) calling the action. In addition, in Western Massachusetts fans in the car can listen to Alex Levitt and Mitch Breslau for live coverage on 91.1 FM WMUA.

Recap In A Minute
Senior Maggie Mulligan turned in 19 points and grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds, earning her 24th double-double, as the Minutewomen defeated Saint Peter's, 81-65, on Sun., Dec. 10 at the Mullins Center.

Mulligan was one of four double-digit scorers for the Minutewomen, being joined by a game-high 23 points from Genesis Rivera, plus 20 by Bre Hampton-Bey and 10 courtesy of Hailey Leidel. In addition to Hampton-Bey's scoring performance, she dished out five assists, had four steals and made 7-of-8 free throws, six of which came in the fourth quarter and were key in sealing the victory.

Set Your Alarms and Tune Your Radio
Every Friday at 11:30 a.m., fans can tune to 91.1 FM WMUA and hear about the week that was for the Minutewomen on the UMass Women's Basketball Show. Head coach Tory Verdi along with selected guests will visit with Mike Knittle, Matt Stromski and Alex Levitt to discuss the latest happenings around the team and look ahead to upcoming matchups.

Fans outside of the WMUA listening area can listen to the show free of charge online at WMUA.org.

Record-Breaking Effort
A number of single-game UMass records were broken on Thurs., Dec. 7, notably Hailey Leidel's 10-of-10 performance from three-point land, surpassing the previous top figure of seven triples made. That clip also tied the NCAA Division I single-game record for consecutive makes from beyond the arc.

In addition, the Minutewomen set new team highs in three-pointers made (17), points in a quarter (39, 1st), points in a half (70, 1st), total points (121), assists (34), and largest margin of victory (83).

Hi, How May We Assist You?
UMass has dished out a total of 182 assists this season, which leads all teams across the Atlantic 10 Conference and sits 17th across the Division I ranks. Breaking that down to a game-by-game figure, the Minutewomen are averaging 16.5 assists, an additional league-best.

Money! ¡Dinero!
Genesis Rivera went a perfect 6-of-6 from downtown in the first quarter on Sat., Dec. 2 against Mississippi Valley State, a feat not previously accomplished at UMass. Of all players across the Atlantic 10, none prior to Rivera have hit six in a single quarter this season. The previous top conference mark in 2017-18 was held by La Salle's Amy Griffin, who went 5-of-5 in the third period against Lafayette on Fri., Nov. 10.

Can We "Borrow" That Please?
Massachusetts now has logged 111 steals on the season, averaging 10.1 per game. Both figures lead the Atlantic 10, while the season total sits 16th in the country. Individually, Bre Hampton-Bey boasts a conference-best 32 steals, amounting to 3.2 per game.

Nah, Nah, Nah...Not In My House
After posting one block against Saint Peter's on Sunday afternoon, Maggie Mulligan has now registered a total of 24 on the season, averaging 2.18 per game. Both figures rank second in the Atlantic 10 behind Duquesne's Kadri-Ann Lass and are among the top 50 across Division I. Dating back to last season, the senior and Boston native has rejected at least one shot in 13 of her last 14 games.

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).

Over The Century Mark
UMass has surpassed 100-points twice this season, eclipsing that figure against Maine-Fort Kent on Nov. 10 (111-45) and Fisher on Dec. 7 (121-38). In recording that triumph over UMFK, the Minutewomen crossed the century mark for the first time since Dec. 13, 1980 when the squad defeated Vermont, 105-74.

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).

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
Massachusetts will enjoy eight days to prepare for its final tune-up for the Atlantic 10 slate, a Thurs., Dec. 21 rendezvous with Marist College. That game will be played at noon at the Mullins Center.

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

Cross-State Trip To UMass Lowell On Docket For Women's Basketball

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