Women's Basketball Begins Richmond Swing Wednesday at VCU

University of Massachusetts Women's Basketball Game Notes & Information
Game 21	Massachusetts (11-9, 3-3 Atlantic 10) at VCU (14-6, 6-1 Atlantic 10)
Date // Time	Wednesday, Jan. 30 // 6 p.m.
Location	Richmond, Va. // E.J. Wade Arena
Stream	ESPN+
Live Statistics	StatBroadcast
Game Notes	Massachusetts // VCU (available shortly)
Twitter	@UMassAthletics // @UMassWBB // @CoachVerdiUMass
Instagram	UMass Women's Basketball
Facebook	UMass Women's Basketball
Tickets	VCU Athletics Ticket Central

Be Social!
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. In addition, fans can follow head coach Tory Verdi on Twitter @CoachVerdiUMass.

Sharp-Shooting Squad
Massachusetts enters Wednesday's game as the second-best shooting team in the Atlantic 10 with a team field goal percentage of 40.7, while also holding the top three-point mark (34.4 percent) in the league. The latter ranks No. 63 nationally with Oregon State atop the Division I ranks.

Good Things Come in Threes
With three makes from downtown vs. St. Bonaventure on Jan. 26, Hailey Leidel now has put down 203 three-pointers in her UMass career, setting a new program record in that category. Former Minutewoman Katie Nelson previously held the mark with 191 makes from 2001-06.

Averaging 15 points throughout her time in Amherst, Leidel is 11th on the all-time scoring list at UMass with 1,202 career points–a figure that also ranks No. 17 among active Division I juniors. She needs 80 points to pass Jasmine Watson (2009-13) for 10th at UMass while Crystal Carroll (1993-97) sits in ninth place with 1,405 points.

Climbing to the Top
Now a senior, fans have watched Jessica George grow tremendously during her time at Massachusetts. After seeing just 13 games as a freshman in 2015-16, George has settled into the starting five and taken on a leadership role as a co-captain with Leidel. She is frequently on the floor for over 30 minutes per game and has scored double figures in six of her last seven contests. In the La Salle win on Jan. 13, the Maryland native also contributed five assists, two short of a career-high.

Massachusetts is 5-1 this season when George puts down more than 12 points.

From South Hadley to Scholarship
Senior Mackenzie Sullivan was awarded a full scholarship during a team meeting held on Sat., Jan. 12. Sullivan, a native of nearby South Hadley, Massachusetts, initially walked on to the Minutewomen squad in Sept. 2018.

"Mackenzie earned that scholarship because she comes to practice every single day and is exactly what we want to coach here at the University of Massachusetts," said head coach Tory Verdi. "She's an unbelievable teammate, she's coachable and she brings it each and every day. Mackenzie is relied upon and is well-deserving of her scholarship."

Starting Fresh
Massachusetts' win over Saint Louis win on Jan. 6 snapped the team's nine-game losing streak against the Billikens dating back to Jan. 19, 2011. It also marked the first time since 2012-13 that the Minutewomen opened up the Atlantic 10 schedule on the winning end.

Welcome to the Show
Freshman Asia McCoy enjoyed a breakout game despite a loss at Northeastern on Sun., Dec. 2 with her first career double-double (12 points, 12 rebounds). The Lawrenceville, Georgia native has made nine starts on the season and shot 5-of-9 en route to a 14-point showing against Saint Louis on Jan. 6.

McCoy highlights a trio of impact freshmen along with Jessica Nelson and Destiney Philoxy, in addition to redshirt freshman Anil Soysal.

George Collects Atlantic 10 Weekly Honor
Jessica George was tabbed a co-recipient of the Atlantic 10's Player of the Week award on Mon., Dec. 31. She was key in UMass' Sat., Dec. 29 victory at Marist, a 70-55 decision to conclude the non-conference schedule. The native of Waldorf, Maryland put down a game-high and career-high 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting, including a 6-of-8 showing from three-point land. George added three rebounds plus one steal and one assist and did not have a single turnover in her 38 minutes played.

'90s on 9
Helped in part by a 55.9 percent (38-of-68) showing from the field and 53.3 percent (8-of-15) clip from three-point land, UMass never trailed and picked up a convincing 90-61 win over Brown on Sat., Nov. 24. The last time the Minutewomen put up at least 90 points against a Division I foe was on Jan. 22, 2008 in the squad's non-conference finale, a 91-57 rout of Yale in Amherst at the Mullins Center.

Aye Aye, Captain
Senior Jessica George and junior Hailey Leidel will guide the Minutewomen this season as captains.

Scoreboard

Players Mentioned

Jessica George

Hailey Leidel

Asia McCoy

Jessica Nelson

Destiney Philoxy

Anil Soysal

Mackenzie Sullivan

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics