Women's Basketball Erases 15-Point Deficit To Outlast Fordham, 60-57

AMHERST, Mass. – University of Massachusetts women's basketball came back from a 15-point deficit to come out on top, 60-57, over Fordham University on Wednesday night at the Mullins Center. UMass recorded its 21st victory, becoming the first team in program history to reach the feat ever in a single season.

Along with improving to 21-5 overall, the Minutewomen are 9-3 in the Atlantic 10 conference, while Fordham dropped overall to 16-7 and 7-4 in the league.

Sam Breen recorded her 16th double-double this season and 39th of her career, after putting up a team-high 21 points and 14 rebounds. Destiney Philoxy also registered her second double-double of the season, finishing with 12 points and a career best 10 boards. Philoxy added six assists on the night, while Ber'Nyah Mayo totaled a team-high three steals.

Massachusetts outrebound the Rams, 51-34. UMass outscored Fordham in points in the paint (42), off turnovers (14), second chance points (10), fast break points (four) and bench points (10).

Angelique Ngalakulondi opened the scoring for the Minutewomen to take a brief 2-0 lead. Fordham answered back with a two-point shot of its own to tie the contest up, before a Breen layup brought Massachusetts to a 4-2 lead. A 20-8 run for the Rams allowed the team to pull ahead 22-10 to end the first quarter.

At the start of the second quarter, Fordham continued its run, scoring two more points to make it a 24-10 game. Mayo cut the deficit in half with a made layup, but two shots from the charity stripe for Kendell Heremaia of Fordham. A small 6-1 run for UMass brought the score to 26-14, in favor of the Rams. Fordham tallied nine more points in the second, while UMass notched five, with the Rams leading 36-23 at the half.

UMass and Fordham each had eight points by the 5:46 mark of the third quarter, as Fordham lead 44-31. Breen and Fordham's Anna DeWolfe traded a couple of points, bringing the game to 46-33. Breen made a layup, before the Rams responded with one of their own, but Makennah White made a jump shot to make it a 48-37 contest. A three-pointer from Breen allowed the Massachusetts to close the gap to eight. Fordham answered with a three-point shot with 29 seconds left, but Sydney Taylor responded with a triple of her own with four seconds remaining in the quarter.

With the score 51-43, in favor of Fordham, the Minutewomen began a 15-0 run that elapsed six minutes and 48 seconds, as Philoxy recorded five of the 15 points for UMass. Within the run, Breen's layup aided Massachusetts to be behind by one point, before Taylor's layup gave the Minutewomen a 52-51 lead. Mayo added a free throw, while Breen registered another layup to put UMass up by four. A triple by the Rams made it a one-point game, once again, but five more tallies, three from Philoxy alone, for UMass to Fordham's three secured the 60-57 triumph for the Minutewomen.

Massachusetts travels to Davidson, N.C., on Sunday, February 20, to take on Davidson for a 12 p.m. tipoff on CBS Sports Network.

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