Minutewomen Fall to Merrimack in Season Opener

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Merrimack	22	17	24	16	79
Massachusetts	16	16	18	14	64

Merrimack

Massachusetts

AMHERST, Mass. – University of Massachusetts women's basketball was defeated by Merrimack, 79-64, on Tuesday night at the Mullins Center in both teams' season-opener. Junior Paige McCormick was just short of a career-high with 17 points on 8-of-17 shooting, and sophomore Destiney Philoxy (13 points) along with senior Vashnie Perry (11 points) contributed double-figure scoring performances.

McCormick's eight rebounds led the team, and Philoxy logged six assists to go with four steals which were both team-highs.

Merrimack's Denia Davis-Stewart had a triple-double on a game-high 31 points, 13 rebounds and 12 blocks. Hot shooting all night keyed the victory for Merrimack, which was 48.3% (29-of-60) from the field including a 14-of-27 (51.9%) clip from three-point territory.

The teams exchanged baskets in the first quarter in a sequence highlighted by freshman Maeve Donnelly's three-point play heading into the first quarter media timeout, putting Massachusetts within one point at 11-10. The Warriors would swell their lead back to eight before a 6-0 run for the home side kept things at a one-possession game into the second stanza.

AND ONE! Maeve heading to the line after the media timeout.

Merrimack 11, UMass 9
4:34, 1Q#Flagship?? pic.twitter.com/Dl7L7MScqA
— UMass Women's Basketball (@UMassWBB) November 5, 2019

From there Merrimack heated up going 4-of-7 in the quarter from downtown and added a 4-of-6 three-point showing in the third.

Momentum swung UMass' way early in the fourth quarter with a 9-2 run to open the frame. The stretch also saw the Minutewomen press Merrimack into a 10-second violation after a Sydney Taylor layup, and force the Warriors into a five-second call on an inbounds pass. But the squad would get no closer than six on senior Hailey Leidel's quick steal and layup with 7:38 on the clock.

For the night, the Minutewomen committed just seven turnovers, while forcing 14 for Merrimack and turning that into 19 points.

Three Minutewomen freshmen made their collegiate debut in the game, including Donnelly, Angelique Ngalakulondi and Taylor.

Massachusetts is back on the Mullins Center hardwood on Sat., Nov. 9 as the squad plays host to Providence in a 2 p.m. game that will be aired on ESPN+.

Scoreboard

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Players Mentioned

Maeve Donnelly

Hailey Leidel

Paige McCormick

Angelique Ngalakulondi

Vashnie Perry

Destiney Philoxy

Sydney Taylor

Team Stats

McCormick Paige

Philoxy Destiney

Perry Vashnie

Taylor Sydney