Complete Team Effort Guides Massachusetts Past La Salle, 74-60

PHILADELPHIA – University of Massachusetts women's basketball received a double-digit performance from senior Jessica George for the sixth time in UMass' last seven games as the Minutewomen defeated La Salle, 74-60, on Sunday afternoon at Tom Gola Arena. With the win, UMass improves to 10-7 on the season (2-1 Atlantic 10) while La Salle falls to 3-14 (0-3 Atlantic 10).

George put down 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting and was joined in double-figures by junior Hailey Leidel (16), plus freshmen Asia McCoy (11) and Jessica Nelson (10), the latter of whom notched her first career double-digit performance. Leidel also logged her fourth career double-double with 10 rebounds in the win. George and freshman Destiney Philoxy contributed five assists and Philoxy tallied a career-high four steals.

Neither side led by more than six in a back-and-forth first half featuring four ties and four lead changes. George had 10 points to pace the Minutewomen and Leidel came down with half of her 10 boards before the break.

McCoy's afternoon was highlighted in part by a half-court buzzer beater heading into halftime. After La Salle's Michelle Nicholls had a three-pointer fall short, McCoy collected the rebound and sprinted up the floor before getting her shot off from just beyond the time line with six-tenths of a second remaining. The bucket stood after video review, sending the Minutewomen into the locker room with a 32-27 lead.

Asia McCoy is just out here knocking down half-court buzzer-beaters.

What say you, @ESPNAssignDesk #SCTop10?#Flagship?? pic.twitter.com/JjgznTNXzC
— UMass W. Basketball (@UMassWBB) January 13, 2019

La Salle clawed back into the contest early in the third quarter as the teams continued to trade buckets. But UMass finally began to pull away on the strength of a 16-4 run overlapping the third and fourth periods, capped by back-to-back triples from senior Genesis Rivera. A later stretch of nine consecutive points in the final stanza put the exclamation point on the afternoon and locked up the victory for the Maroon and White.

For the Explorers, Rayshel Brown put down a team-high 14 points before fouling out. Shalina Miller grabbed eight rebounds and recorded four steals and three blocks.

UMass had the rebounding advantage by a 42-26 margin and also received 25 points from the bench, compared to 14 for the Explorers.

Massachusetts now turns its attention to a Wed., Jan. 16 Field Trip Day game against George Mason at the Mullins Center. Nearly 3,200 elementary and middle school students and teachers are expected to turn out for the contest, which tips at noon and will be televised nationally on NBCSN.

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

Scoreboard