Women's Basketball Hosts Maine At Mullins Center On Monday Night

University of Massachusetts Women's Basketball Game Notes & Information
Game 3	Massachusetts (1-1) vs. Maine (1-0)
Date // Time	Monday, Nov. 14 // 7 p.m.
Location	Amherst, Mass. // Mullins Center
Watch	NESN // ESPN+
Stream	ESPN+
Live Statistics	LiveStats
Game Notes	Massachusetts // Maine
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.

Women's Basketball Selected As Atlantic 10 Preseason Favorites
Massachusetts was selected as the Atlantic 10 Preseason favorites with 225 points and all 15 first-place votes after winning the 2021-22 A-10 Championship title last season. The Minutewomen were chosen ahead of La Salle (188 points), Rhode Island (184 points), Fordham (183 points) and VCU (152 points) in the top-five.

In addition, the league announced the A-10 Preseason Awards, placing graduate student Sam Breen and senior Sydney Taylor on the All-Conference First Team, while graduate student Destiney Philoxy landed on the All-Conference Second Team and the All-Defensive Team. Breen received A-10 Player of the Year honors last year. She also collected the A-10 Tournament's Most Outstanding Player, All-Conference First Team and All-Academic Team accolades. Taylor and Philoxy both garnered A-10 All-Conference Second Team awards, as Breen and Taylor were placed on the conference's All-Championship Team last season.

Breen finished the year with 571 points (17.3 per game) and 332 rebounds (10.1 per game) to lead the team. She tallied 17 double-doubles on the season, tying for 18th in the nation and becoming the only A-10 player last year to record 10-plus double-doubles.

Taylor totaled 526 points (15.9 per game) and recorded 83 made three-point field goals, averaging 2.5 per game. She completed the season second in the league with her three-pointers made, while tying for 20th in the nation.

Philoxy led the Minutewomen with 187 assists, averaging 5.7 per game. Her assist total tied her for ninth in the NCAA and first in the A-10 Conference.

Last Time Out
University of Massachusetts took on No. 5 Tennessee on the road, falling 74-65 to the Lady Volunteers last Thursday at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee. Four Minutewomen reached double figures on the night, led by Sam Breen with 18 points.

Breen tallied her first double-double of the season, and the 41st of her career, coming down with 12 rebounds to go with her point total. In addition to Breen, Ber'Nyah Mayo, Sydney Taylor and Destiney Philoxy recorded 15, 11 and 10 points, respectively. Mayo recorded a team-high four assists, while Taylor had a total of three swipes. UMass outrebounded the Lady Volunteers, 49-45, and had the advantage in second chance points, 16-12.

All-Time Series vs. Maine
Massachusetts and Maine will meet for the 24th time in program history, as Maine holds a 14-9 advantage in the all-time series. The Minutewomen have the advantage over the Black Bears in Amherst, 8-4. UMass and Maine last met on Nov. 19, 2014, when the Minutewomen took down the Black Bears, 68-60, on the day.

In the Latest Polls...
On Oct. 26, 2022, the Minutewomen received one vote in the USA TODAY/WCBA Coaches Poll.

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 ninth in career points (1,434), passing Julie Ready (1,406; 1977-81), while Philoxy is now 13th in career points (1,259) in program history, passing Tamara Tatham on the list (1,186; 2003-07). Sydney Taylor will look to get herself on the career points list this season, as the senior is 47 points away from 1,000, totaling 953.

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 be in 11th on the career points scored list (1,390). The graduate student has also collected 776 career rebounds with the Minutewomen, so far, to place seventh in all-time career records, passing Tamara Tatham (755; 2003- 07) on the list. Philoxy hit 400-plus career assists on Dec. 11, 2021 and 500-plus career assists on Feb. 26, 2022. She is now second in the career records all-time with 535, so far, passing Christel Zullo (533 - 1985-89). She is only the fourth Minutewomen to achieve 500-plus dimes and is 43 assists away from passing Sabriya Mitchell's 578 total (1994-98) and etching her name in first. Philoxy also played in her 100th career game on Jan. 22 at George Washington, while Breen reached her 100th career game played in the A-10 Quarterfinals vs. Fordham (March 4).

Philoxy has also put her name on the career steals list, ranking 11th with 160 total, so far, in her career. Fellow teammates Breen and Ber'Nyah Mayo are etched on the career steals list in the record book, as they are tied for 14th with Pam Rosanio (2004-08) with 130 total.

Head Coach Tory Verdi achieved his 100th victory at the helm of Massachusetts in the 76-58 win over Saint Joseph's in the A-10 Semifinals on March 5. His current record with the Minutewomen stands at 102-80.

Breen, the Double-Double Machine

Sam Breen added to her career total, in 2022-23, bringing it to 41 double-doubles after scoring 18 points and grabbing 12 rebounds at No. 5 Tennessee.

Breen collected 17 double-doubles in the historic 2021-22 season at UMass, moving her career total to 40. Her 17 double-doubles in 32 games have helped the Breen tie for 18th in the nation. The graduate student recorded four consecutive double-doubles from Nov. 27 through Dec. 5, and again from Jan. 15 through Jan. 22. Breen was the only A-10 player last season to have as many double-doubles and be in the top-50 in the nation, while also being the only one to have 10-plus double- doubles.

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 during the 2020-21 season. The last time an Atlantic 10 player had 15 such games was during the 2017-18 season, when three players did so.

Next Up
The Minutewomen begin a four-game road series at Harvard on Friday, November 18, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The contest is slated for a 7 p.m. start on ESPN+.

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