Women's Basketball Hosts UMass Lowell At Mullins Center On Sunday

University of Massachusetts Women's Basketball Game Notes & Information
Game 10	Massachusetts (8-1) vs. UMass Lowell (3-3)
Date // Time	Sunday, December 5 // 12 p.m.
Location	Amherst, Mass. // Mullins Center
Watch	NESN
Stream	ESPN+
Live Statistics	LiveStats
Game Notes	Massachusetts // UMass Lowell
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 defeated Fairfield, 74-61, on Wednesday night at the Mullins Center. Sam Breen recorded her sixth double-double of the season, logging 22 points and 16 rebounds. Destiney Philoxy was one assist shy of reaching a double-double, picking up 17 points and nine assists, while Sydney Taylor was one rebound short of a double-double herself, collecting 12 points and nine rebounds.

The Minutewomen made 14 three-pointers out of 30 attempts, shooting 46.7 percent from behind the arc. The 14 triples marked a season high for Massachusetts. UMass went 8-for-12 from the charity stripe (66.7 percent), and outrebounded the Stags, 55-23, which was also season best for the team.

All-Time Series vs. UMass Lowell
The Minutewomen and River Hawks are meeting for the fifth time in program history, as Massachusetts holds the advantage at 3-1 over UMass Lowell. At Mullins Center, UMass and UMass Lowell are at a 1-1 draw.

The two teams first met on Dec. 30, 2015 when Massachusetts came away with an 84-58 victory. UMass and UMass Lowell's last meeting occurred on Nov. 14, 2019. The Minutewomen picked up the 74-58 road win.

Shaking Up the Record Book
UMass is out to one of its best starts of the season since the 2002-03 season when the Minutewomen went 8-1 through nine games and 8-2 in 10 games.

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 76.1 points per game (685 pts). The team also is second in the scoring margin with 13.8 per game.

With a 44.5 field goal percentage (253-of-569), UMass sits in second, while ranking first in rebounding offense (44.4 rpg), tallying 15.0 offensive rebounds per game.

Sam Breen and Sydney Taylor rank second and third in the conference in scoring with 17.4 ppg (157 pts.) and 16.7 ppg (150 pts.), respectively. Breen sits atop the leaderboard in rebounds, averaging 11.8 per game, with 106 boards total.

Angelique Ngalakulondi is 36-for-51 from the field, leading the A-10 with a 70.6 percentage. Destiney Philoxy has aided her teammates, averaging 5.4 assists per game (49 total).

Double Figures Reached
Six Minutewomen have reached double figure points this season. Sydney Taylor and Sam Breen have both logged 10 or more points in eight of nine games played.

Ber'Nyah Mayo added to her total to six double figure games with when she captured 13 points against 13th nationally-ranked Iowa State, while Destiney Philoxy collected six double figure contests with 17 points versus Fairfield. Angelique Ngalakulondi has registered four and Makennah White recorded two double figure contests.

Breen, the Double-Double Machine
Sam Breen has collected six double-doubles on the season for UMass, moving her career total to 29. She tallied double-doubles against Harvard, Iona, Holy Cross, versus Kent State, against No. 13 Iowa State and Fairfield, so far this season. Her six double-doubles in nine games have helped the graduate student tie for third in the nation.

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.

"Swish" Taylor
Junior Sydney Taylor has been one of the most improved Minutewomen since the 2019-20 season, and entered the WNIT ranking second on the team and No. 5 in the Atlantic 10 in scoring (15.2 ppg) last season. Taylor was outstanding during the 2020-21 A-10 Tournament, averaging a team-high 20 points and being named to the A-10 All-Championship Team alongside Sam Breen and Destiney Philoxy, while adding a career-high-tying 27 points on 8-of-14 shooting, that came in the Quarterfinal win over Fordham.

Taylor kept the momentum going into this season, logging double figures in seven of eight games played. She tallied a team best 16 points against Central Connecticut State in the season-opener, registered 17 against Harvard, and added 25 points versus Iona, nearly tying her career best of 27. On the road, she has continued to have the hot hand putting up 13 at Holy Cross, 26 over Providence, 23 more vs. South Dakota State and 16 in the win over Kent State.

The Huntington Station, N.Y., native, is third in the Atlantic 10 in scoring, tallying 150 points (16.7 ppg). She is also tied for second in three-point field goals per game, averaging 2.6, with 23 recorded.

Next Up
UMass closes out its homestand against Boston College on Wednesday, December 8. Tip off is slated for 7 p.m on NESN+.

Scoreboard