Minutewomen Return Home Sunday Afternoon Against VCU

University of Massachusetts Women's Basketball Game Notes
Game 19	Massachusetts (8-10 overall, 0-5 Atlantic 10) vs. VCU (4-13 overall, 1-4 Atlantic 10)
Date \| Time	Sunday, Jan. 21 \| 2 p.m.
Location	Mullins Center; Amherst, Mass.
Series History	VCU leads, 5-1. Last meeting: VCU 55, Massachusetts 52, Jan. 28, 2017
Game Notes	Massachusetts \| VCU
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

The Opening Tip
University of Massachusetts women's basketball plays host to VCU on Sun., Jan. 21 in a 2 p.m. contest at the Mullins Center. The Minutewomen will look to avenge a close setback to the Rams a year ago, when a late rally fell short for UMass in a 55-52 setback in Richmond, Virginia.

Fans unable to make it to the game can follow along on the Atlantic 10 Digital Network as well as on 91.1 FM WMUA, the flagship radio home of UMass women's basketball.

Recap In A Minute
Saint Louis' Kerri McMahan hit a free throw with exactly one second remaining in regulation to lift the Billikens over University of Massachusetts women's basketball, 64-63, on Thursday night at Chaifetz Arena. Hailey Leidel scored a game-high 23 points for the Minutewomen on 8-of-17 shooting and Maggie Mulligan recorded her 27th career double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds. UMass led for 38 minutes, 33 seconds, but SLU used an 8-0 run over the final 3:20 of the ballgame to steal the victory.

Climbing The Record Book
Senior Leah McDerment is leaving a mark in the UMass record book as her time with the Maroon and White winds down. The native of Stockport, England has earned time in 108 games during her career, just 11 short of tying former Minutewoman Kim Benton (1996-2000) for the all-time program record. McDerment can match that figure if she appears in each remaining regular season contest.

In addition, sophomore Hailey Leidel is on pace to surpass Katie Nelson (2001-06) for the highest number of made 3-pointers at UMass. Leidel has drained 132 baskets from downtown in less than two seasons, while Nelson put down 191 in her career.

All Truth, No Lies
After tying the UMass single-season record in 2016-17 with 78 made three-point baskets, Hailey Leidel continues to leave a mark from downtown having drained 54 triples to date in her second campaign in Amherst. Leidel is just short of leading the Atlantic 10 this year in that category, is seventh among Division I sophomores and 29th nationally among all players.

Leidel continues to pace the Minutewomen offensively with a team-high 15.3 points per game.

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.

The Boston native is barely short of averaging a double-double, turning in marks of 11.1 points and 9.8 rebounds each night.

Take It Away!
Massachusetts now has logged 159 steals on the season, averaging 8.8 per game, ranking third and second, respectively, in the Atlantic 10. Individually, freshman Bre Hampton-Bey boasts 2.47 takeaways per game which is second in the conference and seventh nationally among rookies.

Hi, How May We Assist You?
UMass has dished out a total of 272 assists this season, the fourth-best figure in the A-10 and No. 90 among the Division I ranks. Breaking that down to a game-by-game figure, the Minutewomen are averaging 15.1 dimes, a clip that sits fifth in the conference. Saint Louis leads the conference in both the total (299) and per game (16.6) areas.

Nah, Nah, Nah...Not In My House
After recording three blocks against Saint Joseph's (Jan. 13), Maggie Mulligan has now registered a total of 42 on the season, averaging 2.33 per game. Both figures rank second in the Atlantic 10 behind Duquesne's Kadri-Ann Lass and are among the top 30 across Division I. Dating back to last season, the senior and Boston native has rejected at least one shot in 19 of her last 21 games in addition to each of her last six.

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).

Pair of Incoming Freshmen Tabbed McDonald's All-American Nominees
Incoming UMass freshmen Alexa Kellner and Destiny Philoxy were named McDonald's All-American Game nominees, it was announced on Wed., Jan. 10. Although Kellner and Philoxy did not make the final rosters for the March 28 contest, the showcase is widely regarded as one of the best in the United States, nominating the nation's top high school players.

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

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
Massachusetts continues Atlantic 10 play on Sun., Jan. 21 with a 2 p.m. tilt against VCU from 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

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Players Mentioned

Alexia Allesch

Autumn Giles

Bre Hampton-Bey

Hailey Leidel

Paige McCormick

Leah McDerment

Maggie Mulligan

Vashnie Perry

Genesis Rivera

Anil Soysal

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics