Women’s Hoops Opens Two-Game Road Swing at George Mason Sunday

University of Massachusetts Women's Basketball Game Notes
Game 25	Massachusetts (11-13 overall, 3-8 Atlantic 10) at George Mason (18-7 overall, 7-4 Atlantic 10)
Date \| Time	Sunday, Feb. 11 \| 2 p.m.
Location	EagleBank Arena; Fairfax, Va.
Series History	George Mason leads, 6-1. Last meeting: George Mason 66, Massachusetts 55; Dec. 4, 2016
Game Notes	Massachusetts \| George Mason
Live Statistics	Sidearm Stats
Listen	91.1 FM WMUA \| WMUA Online
Tickets	(703) 993-3270 \| George Mason 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 embarks on a two-game road trip beginning Sun., Feb. 11 when the Minutewomen face George Mason in Fairfax, Virginia. Action begins at 2 p.m. from EagleBank Arena with the game being streamed in high definition on the Atlantic 10 Digital Network. Additionally, Alex Levitt and Colin Cronin will have the call on 91.1 FM WMUA, the flagship radio home of UMass women's basketball.

Set Your Alarms and Tune Your Radio
Every Friday at 11 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, Alex Levitt and other hosts 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.

Recap In A Minute
The Minutewomen are looking to bounce back from a 78-49 loss to Dayton on Wed., Feb. 7 at the Mullins Center. The Flyers, which entered the game receiving votes in the AP Top 25 poll, strung together a 17-2 run in the first quarter to take charge early. Bre Hampton-Bey had 14 points and Maggie Mulligan had 14 rebounds on the night.

Doubling The Fun
Boasting 10.8 points and an even 10 rebounds per game, Maggie Mulligan is one of only four players across the Atlantic 10 currently averaging a double-double. Joining her in the group are George Mason's Natalie Butler (18.1 ppg, 15.8 rpg), G'Mrice Davis of Fordham (17 ppg, 13.4 rpg) and Dayton's Javonna Layfield (11.9 ppg, 13.2 ppg).

Verdi Approaching 100 Career Wins
Massachusetts head coach Tory Verdi logged his 95th career victory at the collegiate level in the win over La Salle on Jan. 28. Prior to arriving at UMass 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).

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 114 games during her career, just five 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.

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 71 triples to date in her second campaign in Amherst. Duquesne's Juca Vojinovic is narrowly edging Leidel for the Atlantic 10 lead (72) in the category, while Leidel is 24th overall among all players nationally.

Leidel continues to pace the Minutewomen offensively with a team-high 15.9 points per game which is 10th in the A-10. In addition, she is on pace to surpass Katie Nelson (2001-06) for the highest number of made 3-pointers at UMass. Leidel has drained 149 baskets from downtown in less than two seasons, while Nelson put down 191 in her career.

Take It Away!
Massachusetts now has logged 194 steals on the season, averaging 8.1 per game, both of which are good for fifth in the Atlantic 10. Individually, freshman Bre Hampton-Bey boasts 2.35 takeaways per game which is third in the conference and seventh nationally among rookies.

Hi, How May We Assist You Today?
UMass has dished out a total of 362 assists this season, the third-best figure in the A-10 and No. 74 among the Division I ranks. Breaking that down to a game-by-game figure, the Minutewomen are averaging 15.1 dimes. Saint Louis leads the conference in both the total (411) and per game (17.1) areas.

Nah, Nah, Nah...Not In My House
After recording two blocks against Dayton (Feb. 7), Maggie Mulligan has now registered a total of 52 on the season, averaging 2.2 per game. Both figures rank second in the Atlantic 10 behind Duquesne's Kadri-Ann Lass and are among the top 40 across all of Division I. The senior and Boston native has rejected at least one shot in each of her last 12 games in addition to 15 of her last 16.

As a junior in 2016-17 Mulligan posted a career-high 60 swats, which also was the third-best total by a Minutewoman in a single campaign.

Hampton-Bey Collects A-10 Recognition
After averaging 19 points, nine rebounds and six assists at Saint Louis (Jan. 18) and against VCU (Jan. 21), Bre Hampton-Bey was named the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week on Mon., Jan. 22. The Toledo, Ohio native was clutch for UMass down the stretch as the Minutewomen entered the bonus with over six minutes left. In the stretch that followed, Hampton-Bey seven of nine free throws. Her 31 points against VCU were the most by a UMass rookie since Melissa Gurile drained 34 at Northeastern on Dec. 1, 1992. Earlier in the week at Saint Louis (Jan. 18), she dropped seven points and grabbed a career-best 13 rebounds.

I Palumbo, You Palumbo, He She Me...Palumbo
Maggie Mulligan's 22 rebounds on Sun., Dec. 31 at Duquesne were the most ever recorded by any Dukes 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.

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 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 2017 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 travels to Washington, D.C. for a Wed., Feb. 14 contest at George Washington with opening tip slated for 7 p.m.

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 Hoops Opens Two-Game Road Swing at George Mason Sunday

Next Event

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