A-10 Slate Concludes Sunday vs. Richmond

University of Massachusetts Women's Basketball Game Notes & Information
Game 17	Massachusetts (10-6, 6-5 Atlantic 10) vs. Richmond (12-7, 9-5 Atlantic 10) *Maddie Sims Day*
Date // Time	Sunday, Feb. 28 // 4:30 p.m.
Location	Kingston, R.I. // Ryan Center Game closed to spectators
Series History	Richmond leads, 20-5 Last Meeting: (at) Massachusetts 64, Richmond 50 • Jan. 29, 2020
Watch	ESPN+
Live Statistics	StatBroadcast
Game Notes	Massachusetts // Richmond
Social Media	Facebook: UMass Women's Basketball Twitter: @UMassWBB // @CoachVerdiUMass Instagram: @UMassWBB
News Clips	Massachusetts In the Press
Season Yearbook	Click here

The Opening Tip: The Massachusetts-Richmond Preview

• The Atlantic 10 Conference schedule comes to a close on Sunday as University of Massachusetts women's basketball faces Richmond in a 4:30 p.m. game from the Ryan Center at the University of Rhode Island. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Stone Freeman (PxP) and Tyler Davey (color) on the call.

• As part of the afternoon's slate, UMass will be recognizing graduate student Maddie Sims and her contributions to the program over the past two seasons. A pregame presentation will take place inside the Ryan Center and various other Maddie Sims Day content will be spread across the @UMassWBB social media accounts.

• Sims first arrived at UMass in Summer 2019 as a transfer from Siena. Since making her debut with the Minutewomen in November 2020, Sims has started all 15 games she has played this season, averaging 7.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per night. The co-captain has enjoyed six games scoring double figures this year, an eight-rebound night in a Jan. 15 win at VCU and a career-high seven assists against St. Joe's on Jan. 29. She's also just 14 rebounds away from 600 in her career.

• This marks the first time that UMass and Richmond have met this season, after the sides' Jan. 17 game in Virginia was postponed.

• Massachusetts is looking to close the regular season on a high note and end a four-game losing streak in the process. The Minutewomen were last in action Friday night, Feb. 26, dropping a 72-69 heartbreaker to VCU. A furious UMass comeback effort came up just short as the squad whittled an 11-point fourth quarter deficit down to just one point in the final minute.

• The VCU game was the first competition for the Maroon and White since Jan. 31–a span of 26 days between contests.

• Sam Breen's double-double Friday night vs. VCU was her league-leading 11th of the year. Breen is one of three players in the Atlantic 10 to average a double-double, alongside Fordham's Kaitlyn Downey (10.7 ppg, 10.9 rpg) and Rhode Island's Emmanuelle Tahane (14.4 ppg, 10.3 rpg).

• Junior Destiney Philoxy continues to position herself as one of the nation's top ball distributors. Philoxy (6.9 apg) sits fourth in Division I in assists per game and has contributed eight or more dimes in seven games this season. The co-captain's total assists (110) are No. 16 in the country.

• The Atlantic 10 Championship presented by Air Force Reserve runs from March 10-14 at VCU's Siegel Center in Richmond, Virginia. The A-10 will seed teams as follows: teams above 60 percent of the median number of conference games played by all 14 teams will be seeded by conference winning percentage. Teams below that 60 percent threshold will be seeded using the NCAA NET ranking, relative to all A-10 teams. Additionally, teams below the 60 percent threshold will not be eligible for the regular season title.

Minutewomen Launch Shooting Shirts Fundraiser
UMass has announced the opportunity for fans to purchase three versions of the pregame shooting shirts sported by the Minutewomen this season. Each item is inscribed with Black Lives Matter along the right sleeve and Say Their Names on the back, honoring Black lives taken by systematic racism and racial injustice. T-shirts are available for $22, long sleeves for $25 and crew sweatshirts $30 and are nearly identical to the shirts worn by the Minutewomen. Items can be purchased via Soundscape Merchandise, with a portion of proceeds directly supporting the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Holyoke. Orders must be placed by March 7.

From concept through production, the shooting shirts initiative was entirely student-athlete driven and spearheaded by redshirt junior Desiree Oliver and junior Destiney Philoxy. The Minutewomen first donned the shirts during pregame of the matchup at La Salle on Sunday, Jan. 3. For additional information, click here.

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Players Mentioned

Sam Breen

Desiree Oliver

Destiney Philoxy

Maddie Sims

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics