Women's Basketball Hosts Rhode Island For Wednesday Night Tilt

University of Massachusetts Women's Basketball Game Notes & Information
Game 20	Massachusetts (15-4, 3-2 Atlantic 10) vs. Rhode Island (15-3, 5-0 Atlantic 10)
Date // Time	Wednesday, January 26 // 7 p.m.
Location	Amherst, Mass. // Mullins Center
Watch	NESN+
Stream	ESPN+
Live Statistics	LiveStats
Game Notes	Massachusetts // Rhode Island
Spectator Policies	2021-22 In-Arena Policies
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.

COVID-19 Protocols
For the most updated in-arena policies for the Mullins Center, please visit here.

Last Time Out
University of Massachusetts improved to 15-4 overall, including 3-2 in the Atlantic 10, with its 68-41 victory at George Washington on Saturday afternoon, marking the first road win ever in program history against the Colonials. The team's overall record surpasses the 2019-20 season for the best starting record through 19 games.

Sam Breen collected her fourth straight double-double, 12th of the season and 35th of her career, after finishing with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Sydney Taylor followed close behind in points with 17, while Taylor and Ber'Nyah Mayo each tallied five rebounds. Angelique Ngalakulondi dished out a career-high four assists on the day and Mayo had a team best three steals. Destiney Philoxy, who played in her 100th career game, recorded two blocks.

All-Time Series vs. Rhode Island
The Minutewomen and the Rams are meeting for the 88th time, as UMass leads the series all-time, 49-38, including the series in Amherst. 24-18. The two program's first met at a neutral site on March 7, 1974 where Massachusetts won 61-53. The last meeting between UMass and URI occurred on January 17, 2022 at The Ryan Center. The Rams came out on top, winning 66-58 over the Minutewomen.

In the Latest Polls...
On January 4, the Minutewomen received one vote in the USA Today's Sports Women's Basketball Coaches Poll. It marks the first time UMass has received votes in a national poll since the 1994-95 season.

On Jan. 11, Massachusetts received three votes and last week (Jan. 18), the Minutewomen received seven in the USA Today's Sports WBCA poll.

Shaking Up the Record Book
Along with becoming the first team in program history to have the best start to a season since the enactment of Title IX and the recognition of women's sports by the NCAA, UMass has one of the best starting records to a season in all of program history with 15-4, surpassing with the 2019-20 season through 19 games (14-4). The Minutewomen tied the 1968-69 season (only a 15 game season) for one of the best starting records to season (13-2) with their win over VCU on Jan. 12, 2022.

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 are second in the Atlantic 10 conference in scoring offensively, averaging 72.4 points per game (1,375 pts), with Richmond slightly ahead in total points by eight, averaging a 72.8 ppg. The team also is second in the scoring margin with 11.0 per game.

With a 42.9 field goal percentage (510-of-1,190), UMass sits in third, while ranking first in combined team rebounds (42.2 rpg), tallying 14.5 offensive rebounds per game (275 total). They are also first in rebounding margin with 9.3. The team is 12th in the nation in total rebounds (801) and is 15th in rebound margin (9.3).

Sam Breen currently ranks fourth in the conference in scoring with a 17.4 ppg (330 pts), and is second in rebounds with 11.3 per game, 214 boards total. In the nation, she is sixth in rebounds and tied for sixth with 12 double-doubles this season, while ranking 15th in defensive rebounds per game (7.9; 151 total). Breen also is ranked in field goal attempts (7th; 316), field goals made (16th; 132) and rebounds per game (16th; 11.3).

Sydney Taylor sits in seventh in scoring (15.6 ppg, 296 pts) in the A-10 and is fourth with 2.4 three-point FGs per game. In the nation, Taylor is rnaked 14th in 3FGs attempted (139) and tied for 28th in 3FGs made (46).

Angelique Ngalakulondi is 73-for-122 from the field, placing first in the A-10 with a 59.8 percentage. She is also second in total offensive rebounds (77) and in offensive rebounds per game with a 4.1 average. In the nation, Ngalakulondi ranks 16th in the offensive rpg category. Destiney Philoxy has aided her teammates, averaging 5.3 assists per game (101 total), to sit in first in the league, while placing 18th in the nation with her total dimes.

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 program 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 16th in career points (1,144), while Philoxy is now 20th in career points (1,098) in program history.

In addition to reaching the career milestone, Breen reached 1,000 points in the Massachusetts uniform on Dec. 22, 2021 at Hartford. With just her UMass career, Breen would sit in 19th on the career points scored list. The graduate student has also collected 691 career rebounds, so far, to place ninth in all-time career records, surpassing Kate Mills (679; 2004-08). Philoxy hit 400-plus career assists on Dec. 11, 2021. She is now etched in fourth in the career records all-time with 442, so far, surpassing Leah McDerment (368 - 2014-18). Philoxy also played in her 100th career game on Jan. 22 at George Washington.

Head Coach Tory Verdi is 10 wins away from achieving his 100th victory at the helm of Massachusetts. His current record with the Minutewomen stands at 90-76.

Breen, the Double-Double Machine
Sam Breen has collected 12 double-doubles on the season for UMass, moving her career total to 35. She tallied double-doubles against Harvard, Iona, Holy Cross, versus Kent State, against No. 13 Iowa State, Fairfield, UMass Lowell, Vermont at Richmond, at Rhode Island, vs. Dayton and at George Washington, so far this season. Her 12 double-doubles in 19 games have helped the graduate student tie for sixth in the nation. The graduate student recorded four consecutive double-doubles 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 of 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 was during the 2017-18 season, when three players did so.

Queen[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 year. That ranks tied for fifth in the country, with Syracuse's Tiana Mangakahia (7.5 apg) in the national lead and Philoxy. 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 season.

Philoxy continued to add her to her total, contributing a team-leading 10 assists in the 2021-22 season-opener on Nov. 9, and tying her career high of 11 on Dec. 22 at Hartford. She sits in first in the league currently with 101 assists (5.3 assists/game), and is 18th in the nation.

Next Up
UMass will hit the road for a Saturday match up at Saint Joseph's at 2 p.m., in Philadelphia, Pa. The contest will be aired on ESPN+.

Scoreboard