Women's Basketball Sets For Two At Briann January Classic in Arizona

University of Massachusetts Women's Basketball Game Notes & Information
Game 9 & 10	Massachusetts (7-1) at Arizona State (6-1) Massachusetts (7-1) vs. Missouri (7-1)
Date // Time	Friday, Dec. 2 // 8 p.m. ET Saturday, Dec. 3 // 5 p.m. ET
Location	Tempe, Ariz. // Desert Financial Arena
Watch	ASU Live Stream (Both days)
Stream	ASU Live Stream (Both days)
Live Statistics	StatBroadcast (at ASU) StatBroadcast (vs. Missouri)
Game Notes	Massachusetts Arizona State Missouri
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 grabbed its sixth straight victory with a 72-57 win at the Mullins Center over Yale on Wednesday night, and improved to 7-1 on the year.

Graduate student Sam Breen and junior Ber'Nyah Mayo reached double figures, tallying 25 and 21 points, respectively. In addition to leading the team in points, Breen garnered her fourth double-double of the season, and 44th of her career, after recording a game-high 15 rebounds. Mayo registered a career best with her 21 points and had a game best five steals on the night. Destiney Philoxy led the way in assists with five, needing only seven more to become the program's all-time career assists leader. Laila Fair tallied the Minutewomen's only two blocks, just one shy of matching her career-high.

All-Time Series vs. Arizona State & Missouri
Massachusetts will meet both Arizona State and Missouri for the first time in program history.

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 77.4 points per game (619 pts), while placing eighth in defensive scoring with a 65.4 average (523 pts). The team is also third with a 12.0 scoring margin. The team ranks 42nd in the nation with its scoring offense.

UMass ranks third in combined team rebounds (41.4 rpg), tallying 15.3 offensive rebounds per game (1st; 122 total), good for 43rd in the nation. The Minutewomen are second with a 5.4 rebounding margin.

Sam Breen is fourth in the conference in scoring, behind Sydney Taylor with 18.4 ppg (147 pts), and second in rebounds with 9.5 per game, tying for second in total boards with 76 and placing second in offensive rebounds (31), behind fellow teammate Angelique Ngalakulondi. In the nation, she sits tied for 13th in rebounds and 10th with three double-doubles this season.

Sydney Taylor sits third in scoring (18.6 ppg, 149 pts) in the A-10 and tied for first with 3.3 3FGs per game. Taylor is tied for 14th in the nation with her 3FGs per game and tied for fourth with her three-pointers made (26 total).

Angelique Ngalakulondi averaged 4.9 offensive rebounds per game (34 total), so far, this season, to sit in first in the A-10. She is seventh with her offensive rebounds per game in the NCAA.

Destiney Philoxy continues to aid her teammates, dishing out 44 dimes, averaging 5.5 assists per game, placing first, currently, in the league. Philoxy sits tied for 14th in the nation with her total assists, while sitting tied for 26th with her average. She is also tied for sixth in steals with 2.4 per game.

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 fifth in career points (1,532), passing Kate Mills (1,525; 2004-08), while Philoxy is now 12th in career points (1,332) 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 1,082 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 eighth on the career points scored list (1,488). The graduate student has also collected 832 career rebounds with the Minutewomen, so far, to place fifth in all-time career records, passing Julie Ready (831; 1977-81) 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 572, so far, passing Christel Zullo (533 - 1985-89). She is only the fourth Minutewomen to achieve 500-plus dimes and is six assists away from tying Sabriya Mitchell's 578 total (1994-98) and seven 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, tying for seventh with Hailey Leidel (2016-20), totaling 176, 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 148 total, while Breen is 15th, with 138, 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 108-80.

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 return to the Mullins Center on December 10 for a Saturday matinee against Columbia, with tipoff slated for 12 p.m., on NESN/ESPN+. Be sure to bring a new, unwrapped toy in exchange for a voucher for a free ticket to any future game.

Scoreboard