Regular Season Closes Saturday at Rhode Island

University of Massachusetts Women's Basketball Game Notes & Information
Game 30	Massachusetts (14-15, 6-9 Atlantic 10) at Rhode Island
Date // Time	Saturday, March 2 // 2 p.m.
Location	Kingston, R.I. // Ryan Center
Stream	ESPN+
Live Statistics	PrestoSports
Game Notes	Massachusetts // Rhode Island (available shortly)
Twitter	@UMassAthletics // @UMassWBB // @CoachVerdiUMass
Instagram	UMass Women's Basketball
Facebook	UMass Women's Basketball
Tickets	Rhode Island 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.

Recap in a Minute
Massachusetts is coming off of a thrilling 64-38 win over Richmond on Wed., Feb. 27 in the squad's Mullins Center season finale. Helped in part by a game-high 15 points from senior Jessica George, the Minutewomen took charge in the second quarter and never looked back, leading by as much as 28 points down the home stretch.

The Last Time vs. Rhode Island
UMass is hoping to pick up a fourth consecutive victory over Rhody Saturday, after claiming a 56-34 triumph at the Mullins Center on Sun., Feb. 10. The Minutewomen never trailed that day as junior Vashnie Perry contributed 11 points and sophomore Bre Hampton-Bey put down 10 of her own in Hampton-Bey's second consecutive start. Junior Hailey Leidel had nine points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals in the win. UMass also held the Rams scoreless (0-for-19) from three-point land.

Atlantic 10 Championship Begins March 5
Saturday's game is the final of the regular season for the Minutewomen, who will then meet a to be determined opponent on Tues., March 5 in the Atlantic 10 First Round. The A-10 will announce First Round pairings following the conclusion of Saturday's games and First Round winners will advance to the Atlantic 10 Quarterfinals, which will be hosted by Duquesne through the Championship on Sun., March 10.

Follow the Minutewomen on social media (@UMassWBB) as well as at UMassAthletics.com for the latest updates and who, where and when the squad will play on Tuesday.

Start Spreadin' the News
Playing in her native New York City for the first time as a Minutewoman, freshman Destiney Philoxy dropped 26 points on 8-of-11 shooting to go with five assists and four rebounds at Fordham (Feb. 24). It marked the highest scoring output by a UMass freshman since Bre Hampton-Bey put down 31 in a win over VCU on Jan. 21, 2018.

Elite Company
Junior Hailey Leidel claimed sole possession of 10th place on the UMass all-time scoring list on Wednesday night, now totaling 1,296 points since joining the program in 2016-17. In ninth is former Minutewomen Crystal Carroll (1993-97), who amassed 1,405 in her career. Leidel is also the 17th player in UMass history to record both 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in a career and the first since Kim Pierre-Louis (2011-15).

Doubling the Fun
Leidel has turned in five double-double performances in her career, all throughout the 2018-19 season. Her first was in a come-from-behind win over UT Rio Grande Valley (Nov. 20), while Leidel also produced double-doubles in victories vs. Fairfield (Nov. 25), Incarnate Word (Dec. 7), at La Salle (Jan. 13) and vs. Duquesne (Feb. 7).

Sharp-Shooting Squad
Massachusetts heads into Wednesday as the the second-best three-point shooting team (32.9 percent) in the Atlantic 10 Conference, while also ranking third in total field goal percentage (40.0) in the league.

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. She recorded the first points of her career in the win over Richmond on Feb. 27.

"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 losing effort at Northeastern on Sun., Dec. 2 with her first career double-double (12 points, 12 rebounds). The Lawrenceville, Georgia native has made 16 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.

On the season, Massachusetts is 7-2 when George scores at least 12 points.

'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

Bre Hampton-Bey

Hailey Leidel

Asia McCoy

Jessica Nelson

Vashnie Perry

Destiney Philoxy

Anil Soysal

Mackenzie Sullivan

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics