Saturday Matinee Ahead as Saint Joseph’s Visits Women’s Basketball

University of Massachusetts Women's Basketball Game Notes
Game 17	Massachusetts (8-8 overall, 0-3 Atlantic 10) vs. Saint Joseph's (8-8 overall, 3-1 Atlantic 10)
Date \| Time	Saturday, Jan. 13 \| 2 p.m.
Location	Mullins Center; Amherst, Mass.
Series History	Saint Joseph's leads, 48-10. Last Meeting: Saint Joseph's 81, Massachusetts 50; Jan. 7, 2017
Game Notes	Massachusetts \| Saint Joseph's
Live Statistics	Sidearm Stats
Listen	91.1 FM WMUA \| WMUA Online
Tickets	866-UMASS-TIX \| UMass Athletics Ticket Office
Watch	Atlantic 10 Digital Network
Twitter	@UMassWBB \| @UMassAthletics \| @CoachVerdiUMass
Instagram	UMass Women's Basketball \| UMass Athletics
Special Events	National Girls and Women in Sports Day

Setting The Scene
University of Massachusetts women's basketball returns to the Mullins Center on Sat., Jan. 13 for a 2 p.m. rendezvous with Atlantic 10 foe Saint Joseph's. In conjunction with the game, UMass will also hold a special slate of postgame events as part of National Girls and Women in Sports Day.

Fans unable to make it to the Mullins Center can follow along live on the Atlantic 10 Digital Network as well as on 91.1 FM WMUA, with Mike Knittle and Elliot Weld on the call.

Minutewomen To Celebrate National Girls and Women In Sports Day
UMass will host an instructional clinic and autograph session following its Saturday's game. The events, taking place in conjunction with National Girls and Women in Sports Day, are free to attend with a game ticket for kids in eighth grade and below. For more details, click here.

Recap In A Minute
In spite of a strong fourth quarter, Massachusetts was handed a 69-59 loss at St. Bonaventure on Sat., Jan. 6. Hailey Leidel had a team-high 20 points and Vashnie Perry, making her first start with the Minutewomen, put down 18 of her own on 7-of-12 shooting including 13 in the final 10 minutes.

UMass shot 39.7 percent (23-of-58) on the day, boosted by a 52.6 percent effort in the fourth quarter. St. Bonaventure was and even 39 percent (23-of-59) on the day, paced by Mariah Ruff's 24 points with 18 coming from beyond the arc.

Pair of Incoming Freshmen Tabbed McDonald's All-American Nominees
Incoming UMass freshmen Alexa Kellner and Destiny Philoxy have been named McDonald's All-American Game nominees, it was announced Wednesday. Regarded as one of the most prominent prep showcases in the United States, the final rosters for both the McDonald's All-American boys and girls teams will be unveiled on Tues., Jan. 16.

Both Kellner and Philoxy submitted National Letters of Intent in November 2017 as early signees and will officially join UMass beginning in 2018-19.

I Palumbo, You Palumbo, He She Me...Palumbo
Maggie Mulligan's 22 rebounds on Sun., Dec. 31 were the most ever recorded by any Duquesne opponent in a single game as well as the top figure in a contest played at the Palumbo Center, which opened in 1988. Both previous marks (21) were held by former Minutewoman Jennifer Butler and recorded in a game played on Jan. 17, 2002.

Mulligan additionally turned in 14 points in the Duquesne game to secure her 26th career double-double.

Verdi Approaching 100 Career Wins
Massachusetts head coach Tory Verdi logged his 92nd career victory as a head coach in the win over UMass Lowell on Dec. 13. Prior to arriving at Massachusetts ahead of the 2016-17 campaign, Verdi earned 72 triumphs at the helm of Eastern Michigan (2012-16) and three as interim head coach at Columbia (2004-05).

All Truth, No Lies
After tying the UMass single-season record in 2016-17 with 78 made three-point baskets, sophomore Hailey Leidel continues to leave a mark from downtown having drained 46 triples to date in her second campaign in Amherst. Leidel is just short of leading the Atlantic 10 this year in that category, is 10th among Division I sophomores and 40th nationally among all players.

Take It Away!
Massachusetts now has logged 142 steals on the season, averaging 8.9 per game, ranking third and first, respectively, in the Atlantic 10. Individually, freshman Bre Hampton-Bey boasts 2.27 takeaways per game which is third in the conference and seventh nationally among rookies.

Hi, How May We Assist You?
UMass has dished out a total of 240 assists this season, the fourth-best figure in the A-10 and No. 89 among the Division I ranks. Breaking that down to a game-by-game figure, the Minutewomen are averaging an even 15 dimes, a clip that also sits fourth in the conference. Saint Louis leads the conference in both the total (264) and per game (16.5) areas.

Nah, Nah, Nah...Not In My House
After posting one blocks at St. Bonaventure (Jan. 6), Maggie Mulligan has now registered a total of 32 on the season, averaging a pair 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 17 of her last 19 games.

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.

Record-Breaking Effort
A number of single-game UMass records were broken on Thurs., Dec. 7 against Fisher College, 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).

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.

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
Three of UMass' next four contests will be played away from the Mullins Center, a stretch that begins with a Thu., Jan. 18 game at Saint Louis. That matchup is scheduled to begin at 8 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

Saturday Matinee Ahead as Saint Joseph’s Visits Women’s Basketball

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