Atlantic 10 Quarterfinals Pit Women’s Hoops Against Fordham

University of Massachusetts Women's Basketball Game Notes & Information
Atlantic 10 Quarterfinals • Championship Central • Printable Bracket
Game 32	No. 10 Massachusetts (16-15) vs. No. 2 Fordham (22-8)
Date // Time	Friday, March 8 // 4:30 p.m.
Location	Pittsburgh, Pa. // A.J. Palumbo Center
Stream	ESPN+
Radio	91.1 FM WMUA
Live Statistics	StatBroadcast
Game Notes	Massachusetts // Fordham
Twitter	@UMassAthletics // @UMassWBB // @CoachVerdiUMass
Instagram	UMass Women's Basketball
Facebook	UMass Women's Basketball
Tickets	Atlantic 10 Championship Tickets

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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.

What's at Stake
Friday's winner between Massachusetts and Fordham will move on to the Atlantic 10 Semifinals and face either third-seeded Duquesne or No. 6 Saint Louis on Sat., March 9 at 1:30 p.m.

Recap in a Minute
Massachusetts is coming off of a thrilling 86-80 double overtime win at George Mason on Tues., March 5 in the Atlantic 10 First Round. The result marked UMass' first win in an A-10 Tournament game since 2016 and first win over Mason since 2015. Junior Hailey Leidel exploded for a season-high 31 points, while freshman Destiney Philoxy dropped 19 and senior Genesis Rivera was just short of her second career double-double, finishing with 15 points to go with nine rebounds.

The Patriots took a four-point lead early in the second overtime with buckets by Jacy Bolton and Nicole Cardaño-Hillary before a 10-0 Massachusetts run turned the tables for the balance of the game. Success at the free throw line was crucial for the Minutewomen in the second overtime as the squad went 10-of-11 at the charity stripe with Leidel (8-of-8) and Philoxy (2-of-3) leading the charge.

Free Fallin'
Junior Hailey Leidel was automatic from the free throw line in the Mason win, turning in an 18-of-18 clip at the charity stripe. Leidel's mark reset the previous UMass single-game record for makes (15) and tied an Atlantic 10 Tournament best, in part helped by going 8-of-8 in the second overtime.

Hey, Rookie!
Freshman Destiney Philoxy was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team on Thurs., March 7. A native of Queens, New York, Philoxy has appeared in 28 games this season, sitting second among the Minutewomen with 10.4 points per game and contributing a team-best 3.1 assists each night. On the season, Philoxy's field goal percentage of 47.2 leads all freshmen in the Atlantic 10 and ranks fifth overall.

Havin' a Record Year...
With 28 in the double overtime win at George Mason on March 5, UMass now has amassed 810 defensive rebounds throughout the 2018-19 season, setting a new program record. The 1994-95 squad that reached the WNIT held the previous best mark with 808 defensive rebounds.

Friday's quarterfinal matchup with Fordham will also mark the first time in a single season that Massachusetts has a 32nd game on the schedule.

Anyone Still Have a Razr?
Massachusetts' win at George Mason on March 5 gave the Minutewomen their 16th win of the season. That total, along with UMass' seven conference wins, are the most by the program in a single season since 2006-07, when that group finished 17-14 and 7-7 in the A-10.

Elite Company
Leidel claimed sole possession of 10th place on the UMass all-time scoring list against Richmond on Wed., Feb. 27, now totaling 1,334 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).

Against the Rest...
Massachusetts heads into Friday as the the second-best three-point shooting team (33.0 percent) in the Atlantic 10 Conference, while also ranking second in free throw percentage (71.6 percent) and third in total field goal percentage (39.8) in the league.

Individually, Leidel is No. 2 in the A-10 and No. 18 nationally as an 88.3 percent free throw shooter, while Destiney Philoxy's 1.37 assist-to-turnover ratio checks in at sixth around the A-10 and No. 15 among freshmen around the nation.

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."

Walker Earns WBCA Thirty Under 30 Accolades
Massachusetts assistant coach Candice Walker was named to the WBCA's Thirty Under 30 list on Wed., March 6. The prestigious award recognizes thirty up-and-coming coaches under 30 years old across all levels of women's basketball. Walker, now in her fourth season at UMass and third as an assistant coach, helps oversee the program's offense.

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

Atlantic 10 Quarterfinals Pit Women’s Hoops Against Fordham

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Players Mentioned

Jessica George

Hailey Leidel

Asia McCoy

Jessica Nelson

Destiney Philoxy

Genesis Rivera

Anil Soysal

Mackenzie Sullivan

Scoreboard

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