Women's Basketball Begins Three-Game Homestand With Friday Matinee Against George Mason

University of Massachusetts Women's Basketball Game Notes & Information
Game 24	Massachusetts (18-5, 6-3 Atlantic 10) vs. George Mason (8-13, 2-7 Atlantic 10)
Date // Time	Friday, February 11 // 12 p.m.
Location	Amherst, Mass. // Mullins Center
Watch	NESN
Stream	ESPN+
Live Statistics	LiveStats
Game Notes	Massachusetts // George Mason
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 18-5 overall, including 6-3 in the Atlantic 10, after cruising past St. Bonaventure on the road, 78-59. The Minutewomen are only two wins shy for tying the most wins in program history at 20, with the 1995-96 and 2019-20 seasons being the other years to reach the triumph mark.

Angelique Ngalakulondi tallied a career-high 20 points to lead UMass. Ber'Nyah Mayo, Sam Breen and Sydney Taylor collected 18, 14 and 11 points on the night, respectively. Breen led the team in rebounds with 10 to earn her 14th double-double of the season, and 37th of her career. Destiney Philoxy and Sam Breen dished out six dimes apiece, while Taylor tied her career best in steals with four.

All-Time Series vs. George Mason
The Minutewomen and the Patriots are meeting for the 12th time, with George Mason holding a 9-2 advanatge in the series, including a 2-1 lead in the series in Amherst. The two program's first met on Dec. 1, 2011, at George Mason, where the Patriots edged out the Minutewomen, 55-52. The last meeting between Massachusetts and George Mason took place on Feb. 5, 2020. The Patriots won 73-56 on the day with a home court advantage.

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 at 18-5, surpassing with the 2019-20 season through 23 games (16-7). 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 first in the Atlantic 10 conference in scoring offensively, averaging 71.4 points per game (1,642 pts), with Richmond following close behind, averaging 71.1 ppg, while leading in total points with 1,706. The team also is third in the scoring margin with 10.6 per game.

With a 43.0 field goal percentage (621-of-1,445), UMass sits in third, while ranking second in combined team rebounds (41.5 rpg), tallying 14.5 offensive rebounds per game (1st; 333 total). They are also second in rebounding margin with 8.9. The team is 16th in the nation in total rebounds (954) and is 15th in rebound margin (8.9), being one of two A-10 teams in the top-25 of the category (URI - 13th).

Sam Breen currently ranks fifth in the conference in scoring with a 16.4 ppg (378 pts), and is second in rebounds with 10.8 per game, 249 boards total. In the nation, she is tied for 10th in rebounds and tied for 11th with 14 double-doubles this season, while ranking 30th in defensive rebounds per game (7.3; 169 total). Breen also is ranked in field goal attempts (15th; 375), field goals made (T-25th; 155) and rebounds per game (21st; 10.8).

Sydney Taylor sits in ninth in scoring (15.3 ppg, 351 pts) in the A-10 and is third with 2.4 three-point FGs per game. In the nation, Taylor is tied for 14th in 3FGs attempted (166).

Angelique Ngalakulondi is 86-for-142 from the field, placing first in the A-10 with a 60.6 percentage. She is also second in total offensive rebounds (83) and in offensive rebounds per game with a 3.6 average. Destiney Philoxy has aided her teammates, averaging 5.4 assists per game (125 total), to sit in first in the league, while placing 17th 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 12th in career points (1,192), while Philoxy is now 15th in career points (1,147) in program history, passing Tez Kraft on the list (1,144; 1994-99).

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 15th on the career points scored list. The graduate student has also collected 726 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 466, 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 seven wins away from achieving his 100th victory at the helm of Massachusetts. His current record with the Minutewomen stands at 93-77.

Breen, the Double-Double Machine
Sam Breen has collected 14 double-doubles on the season for UMass, moving her career total to 37. 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, at George Washington, at Saint Joseph's and at St. Bonaventure, so far this season. Her 14 double-doubles in 23 games have helped the graduate student tie for 11th 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, as she averaged 6.5 assists per game last year. That ranked 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 125 assists (5.4 assists/game), and is 17th in the nation.

Next Up
UMass continues its homestand on Sunday, February 13, as the team hosts Duquesne for Senior Day. Tip off is slated for 12 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.

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