Women's Basketball Hits The Road To Face #5 Tennessee

University of Massachusetts Women's Basketball Game Notes & Information
Game 2	Massachusetts (1-0) at No. 5 Tennessee (0-1)
Date // Time	Thursday, Nov. 10 // 6:30 p.m.
Location	Knoxville, Tenn. // Thompson-Boling Arena
Watch	SECN+ // ESPN+
Stream	ESPN+
Live Statistics	LiveStats
Game Notes	Massachusetts // Tennessee
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 opened its season with a 72-57 victory over Central Connecticut State on Monday evening at hte Mullins Center.

Sam Breen matched a career-high 31 points to lead the Minutewomen with Destiney Philoxy following with 15 points on the night. Breen and Makennah White led the team in rebounds with eight apiece. Sydney Taylor registered a team-high seven assists, tying her career best.

All-Time Series vs. Tennessee
Massachusetts and Tennessee will meet for the first time in program history on Thursday night.

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 (1,416), passing Julie Ready (1,406; 1977-81), while Philoxy is now 13th in career points (1,249) 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 58 points away from 1,000, totaling 942.

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 (1,372). The graduate student has also collected 817 career rebounds, 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 tied for second in the career records all-time with 533, so far, with Christel Zullo (533 - 1985-89). She is only the fourth Minutewomen to achieve 500-plus dimes and is 45 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 158 total, so far, in her career. Fellow teammates Sam Breen and Ber'Nyah Mayo are etched on the career steals list in the record book, as they are tied for 15th with Sakera Young (2005-09) with 129 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 102-78.

Next Up
The Minutewomen return to Mullins for a Monday night tilt against Maine for Military Appreciation night. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. on NESN/ESPN+.

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics

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