Women's Basketball Returns To Mullins Center For A Midweek Matchup With Yale

University of Massachusetts Women's Basketball Game Notes & Information
Game 8	Massachusetts (6-1) vs. Yale (4-3)
Date // Time	Wednesday, Nov. 30 // 7 p.m.
Location	Amherst, Mass. // Mullins Center
Watch	NESN+ / ESPN+
Stream	ESPN+
Live Statistics	LiveStats
Game Notes	Massachusetts // Yale
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.

Last Time Out
The University of Massachusetts women's basketball team picked up its fifth straight victory after downing Florida International, 95-78, to claim the FIU Thanksgiving Classic Championship on Sudnay afternoon, and improved to 6-1 on the year.

Sam Breen led the way with a game-high 26 points and 11 rebounds for her third double-double of the year and 43rd of her career. Sydney Taylor with 25 points and matched a career best with nine boards. It marked the sixth game for Taylor in double figures, including her fourth consecutive contest with 20-plus points, while Breen reached 10-plus points for the fifth time this season. Destiney Philoxy, Ber'Nyah Mayo and Angelique Ngalakulondi also finished the afternoon in double figures, tallying 18, 11 and 10, respectively. Philoxy recorded a game best eight assists, while Mayo had a team-high three steals.

All-Time Series vs. Yale
Massachusetts and Yale will meet for the seventh time in program history, with Yale holding a 4-2 advantage in the all-time series. In Amherst, Massachusetts has a 2-0 record, with the last home game and meeting between the two teams being on Jan. 22, 2008. UMass won 91-57 on the day. The Minutewomen and Bulldogs first met at Yale on Jan. 14, 1983, with Yale coming at on top, 71-57.

In the Latest Polls...

USA TODAY/WCBA Coaches Poll

Oct. 26 - 1 vote; Nov. 15 - 2 votes; Nov. 22 - 5 votes; Nov. 29 - 4 votes

AP Top 25 Poll

Nov. 28 - 2 votes

Statistically Speaking
The Minutewomen currently sit in first the Atlantic 10 conference in scoring offensively, averaging 78.1 points per game (547 pts), while placing fifth in defensive scoring with a 66.6 average (466 pts). The team is also tied for fourth with an 11.6 scoring margin. The team ranks 41st in the nation with its scoring offense.

UMass ranks second in combined team rebounds (41.7 rpg), tallying 15.9 offensive rebounds per game (1st; 111 total), good for 27th in the nation. The Minutewomen are second with a 5.6 rebounding margin.

Sam Breen is fifth in the conference in scoring with 17.4 ppg (122 pts), and tied for second in rebounds with 8.7 per game, tying for second in total boards with 61 and placing second in offensive rebounds (26), behind fellow teammate Angelique Ngalakulondi. In the nation, she sits tied for 42nd in rebounds and 18th with three double-doubles this season.

Sydney Taylor sits atop the leaderboard in scoring (20.0 ppg, 140 pts) in the A-10 and tied for first with 3.6 3FGs per game. Taylor is tied for eighth in the nation with her 3FGs per game and tied for fourth with her three-pointers made (25 total).

Angelique Ngalakulondi averaged 4.8 offensive rebounds per game (29 total), so far, this season, to sit in first in the A-10. She is tied for seventh with her offensive rebounds per game in the NCAA.

Destiney Philoxy continues to aid her teammates, dishing out 39 dimes, averaging 5.6 assists per game, placing first, currently, in the league. Philoxy sits tied for 20th in the nation with her total assists, while sitting tied for 29th with her average. She is also fifth in steals with 2.6 per game and 18 total (T-38th in the NCAA).

Walking the [Mile]Stone PathSam 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 sixth in career points (1,507), passing Barbara Hebel (1,498; 1982-86), while Philoxy is now 12th in career points (1,324) in program history, passing Jasmine Watson on the list (1,291; 2009-13). Sydney Taylor became the 23rd Minutewomen to join the 1,000-point club after garnering her 1,000th career point on Nov. 22, 2022. She currently sits 21st on the list with 1,073 points, surpassing Alison MacFarland (1,060; 1996-00).

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 ninth on the career points scored list (1,463). The graduate student has also collected 817 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 567, so far, passing Christel Zullo (533 - 1985-89). She is only the fourth Minutewomen to achieve 500-plus dimes and is 11 assists away from tying Sabriya Mitchell's 578 total (1994-98) and 12 away from 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, placing eighth, passing both Octavia Thomas (173; 1992-96) and Barbara Hebel (173; 1982-86) with 175 total, so far, in her career. Fellow teammates Ber'Nyah Mayo and Sam Breen are etched on the career steals list in the record book, as Mayo sits in 14th with 143 total, while Breen is 15th, with 136, both passing Pam Rosanio (130; 2004-08).

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 107-80.

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 had one of the best starting records to a season in all of program history at 26-6, surpassing the most wins in program history with the 1995-96 and 2019-20 seasons, which saw 20. 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).

UMass also earned the program's first Atlantic 10 Title after upsetting the No. 1-seeded Dayton, 62-56, in the A-10 Finals. In addition, Sam Breen etched her name as the first Minutewomen to tab A-10 Player of the Year.

In continuing success this season, the Minutewomen scored its first 100 points in a game against Drake (11/25/22; W, 100-83), since defeating Fisher College, 121-38, in Dec. of 2017. It also marked the first time the program achieved 100 points against a Division I opponent, since taking down Vermont, 105-74, on Dec. 13, 1980.

With the team's win over Drake, Massachusetts advanced to the FIU Thanksgiving Classic Championships, coming out on top with a 95-78 victory over FIU to win the program's first multi-team event tournament since Dec. of 2008, when the Minutewomen won the Brown Bear Classic.

Next Up
Massachusetts heads to Tempe, Arizona, for the ASU Tournament, on Friday, Dec. 2 through Saturday, Dec. 3. UMass takes on host Arizona State on Friday night, at 8 p.m., on ASU Live Stream, before competing against Missouri on Saturday at 5 p.m.

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