Women's Basketball Treks To Columbia Saturday Afternoon

University of Massachusetts Women's Basketball Game Notes & Information
Game 12	Massachusetts (9-2) at Columbia (8-2)
Date // Time	Saturday, December 11 // 2 p.m.
Location	New York, N.Y. // Levien Gymnasium
Watch	ESPN+
Stream	ESPN+
Live Statistics	LiveStats
Game Notes	Massachusetts // Columbia
Social Media	Facebook: UMass Women's Basketball Twitter: @UMassWBB // @CoachVerdiUMass Instagram: @UMassWBB

The Need to Knows
Follow the Minutewomen on Social Media
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.

Breen and Philoxy Tabbed Atlantic 10 Preseason All-Conference
Breen was named to the preseason all-conference first-team coming off a season where she averaged 18 points per game and 10 rebounds on her way to being named to the A-10 All- Conference First-Team in 2020-21. The graduate student led the league in double-doubles with 15, including a stretch where she recorded seven straight from Jan. 29-March 13. Breen reached double figures in scoring in 22 of 24 contests, including eight games with 20 or more.

Philoxy was tabbed to both the preseason all-conference second-team and all-defensive team after leading the Atlantic 10 and ranking eighth nationally in assists a season ago as a junior with 156. The guard played in all 24 contests for the Minutewomen and scored in double figures in 12 games on her way to being named second-team all-conference in 2020- 21. Philoxy averaged 11.5 points to go along with 6.5 assists per game.

Last Time Out
University of Massachusetts fell, 66-60, to Boston College on Wednesday night at the Mullins Center, moving to 9-2 on the season.

Sam Breen and Ber'Nyah Mayo led the effort with 14 points apiece. Destiney Philoxy followed close behind with 13 points and a career-high three blocks on the night. Breen and Angelique Ngalakulondi came down with a team best eight boards. Philoxy and Breen also grabbed their 1,000th career point.

All-Time Series vs. Columbia
The Minutewomen and Lions will meet for the first time in program history on Saturday afternoon.

Shaking Up the Record Book
UMass is out to one of its best starts of the season since the 2006-07 season when the Minutewomen were 9-2 through the first 11 games. It is the fourth time in the program the Minuteowmen have had that starting record (1976-77; 1978-79; 2006-07).

Massachusetts was on a nine-game winning streak that dated back to last season (Mar. 20, 2021 - Nov. 27, 2021), before that came to an end when the team fell to No. 13 Iowa State. The nine consecutive wins for the Minutewomen matched the second most victories in a row achieved three times in program history - the 1968-69 inaugural season (9-0 to begin the year), in 1976-77 (Jan. 21, 1977-Feb. 8, 1977) and in 1997-98 (Feb.4-March 1, 1998).

Statistically Speaking
The Minutewomen lead the Atlantic 10 conference in scoring offensively, averaging 74.3 points per game (743 pts). The team also is second in the scoring margin with 12.9 per game.

With a 43.3 field goal percentage (273-of-631), UMass sits in third, while ranking first in rebounding offense (44.0 rpg), tallying 15.3 offensive rebounds per game.

Sam Breen ranks second in the conference in scoring with a 18.3 ppg (183 pts.), and in rebounds with 11.9 per game, 119 boards total. In the nation, she also ranks second in rebounds and is tied for second with seven double-doubles this season.

Angelique Ngalakulondi is 38-for-57 from the field, leading the A-10 with a 66.7 percentage. Destiney Philoxy has aided her teammates, averaging 5.3 assists per game (53 total), to sit in first in the league.

Walking the [Mile]Stone Path
Sam Breen and Destiney Philoxy each eclipsed their 1,000th career point on Dec. 8, 2021. They became the 21st and 22nd Minutewomen to achieve the feat, while becoming the third pair in progam history to earn it in the same season, and first since 2006-07. The duo may also be the first to reach the milestone in the same game in NCAA history. Breen is now 21st in career points, while Philoxy sits 22nd in career points in program history.

In addition to reaching the career milestone, Breen is approaching 1,000 points in the Massachusetts uniform. Her UMass point total sits at 967, needing only 33 more to achieve the mark. Philoxy is very close to hitting 400 career assists, with only four more to go. Once the mark is hit, she will be etched in fourth in the career records all-time, surpassing Leah McDermott (368; 2014-18).

Head Coach Tory Verdi is 14 wins away from achieving his 100th victory at the helm of Massachusetts. His current record with the Minutewomen stands at 86-74.

Breen, the Double-Double Machine
Sam Breen has collected seven double-doubles on the season for UMass, moving her career total to 30. She tallied double-doubles against Harvard, Iona, Holy Cross, versus Kent State, against No. 13 Iowa State, Fairfield and UMass Lowell, so far this season. Her seven double-doubles in 10 games have helped the graduate student tie for second in the nation.

The graduate student recorded four consecutive double-doubles in the last four contests, ranging from Nov. 27 through Dec. 5.

Breen owned a league-leading 15 double-doubles last season and 23 in her career, including 14 such performances in the last 19 games in the 2020-21 season, and narrowly missed the feat in the final game of the season vs. Ohio (3/22/21)–finishing with 27 points and nine rebounds. She was one of just three players in the A-10 to average both double-figure scoring and rebounding. She finished last year second in scoring (18.0 ppg) and fourth in the league rebounding (10.0 rpg).

Breen was one of just 12 players nationally to own as many double-double performances last season. The last time an Atlantic 10 player had 15 such games.

Queens[s] of the Assist (well, almost)
Senior Destiney Philoxy has established herself among the top ball distributors in the country, averaging 6.5 assists per game last season, tying for fifth in the country at 7.5 assists per game in the national lead. In terms of total assists (156), Philoxy was No. 8 in Division I last season.

The Queens, N.Y., native set up a career-high 11 buckets in the Davidson win on Jan. 8, 2021, and became the first UMass player since Megan Zullo (2010-11) to have multiple games in the same season with 10-plus assists - the other being on Jan. 3 at La Salle (10). She recorded eight-plus dimes in eight games last year.

Philoxy continued to add her to her total contributing a team-leading 10 assists in the 2021-22 season opener on Nov. 9. She leads the league currently with 55 assists (5.0 apg), and is tied for eighth in the nation.

Next Up
UMass returns to the Mullins Center to host Vermont on Sunday, December 19 for a 3:30 p.m. match up.

Scoreboard

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Players Mentioned

Sam Breen

Ber'Nyah Mayo

Angelique Ngalakulondi

Destiney Philoxy

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics