Women's Basketball Home Finale Brings VCU To Mullins Center for Play4Kay Game

University of Massachusetts Women's Basketball Game Notes & Information
Game 28	Massachusetts (21-6, 9-4 Atlantic 10) vs. VCU (14-8, 9-3 Atlantic 10)
Date // Time	Wednesday, February 23 // 7 p.m.
Location	Amherst, Mass. // Mullins Center
Watch	ESPN+
Stream	ESPN+
Live Statistics	LiveStats
Game Notes	Massachusetts // VCU
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 dropped to 21-6 overall on the season and 9-4 in the Atlantic 10 Conference, after falling 76-67 to Davidson on the road on Sunday afternoon.

Sam Breen led the way with 26 points and was one rebounds shy of collecting her 17th double-double of the season (40th of her career), after coming down with nine. Destiney Philoxy followed Breen, putting up 10 points. Breen and Ber'Nyah Mayo had three assists apiece, while Mayo was first in steals with four total. The Minutewomen were 15-for-20 (.750) from the free throw line on the day.

All-Time Series vs. VCU
The Minutewomen and the Rams are meeting for the 14th time, including the second time this season, with VCU leading the all-time series, 4-9, including 1-2 in Amherst. The two program's first met on March 23, 1995, at the WNIT, where UMass defetaed VCU, 70-61. The teams last met on January 12 of this year in Richmond. Massachusetts came awya with a 72-60 victory after a second half rally.

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 21-6, 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).

Statistically Speaking
The Minutewomen are first in the Atlantic 10 conference in scoring offensively, averaging 72.0 points per game (1,945 pts), with Richmond following close behind, averaging 70.9 ppg (1,915 total). The team also is third in the scoring margin with 11.0 per game.

With a 43.2 field goal percentage (741-of-1,715), UMass sits in third, while ranking second in combined team rebounds (41.7 rpg), tallying 14.4 offensive rebounds per game (1st; 390 total). They are also first in rebounding margin with 9.3. The team is 13th in the nation in total rebounds (1,126) and 11th in rebound margin (9.3), being one of two A-10 teams in the top-25 of the category (URI - 18th).

Sam Breen currently ranks fourth in the conference in scoring with a 16.8 ppg (453 pts), and is second in rebounds with 10.6 per game, placing first in total boards with 287. In the nation, she is tied for 10th in rebounds and tied for 10th with 16 double-doubles this season. Breen also is ranked in field goal attempts (ninth; 447), field goals made (17th; 187) and rebounds per game (T-23rd; 10.6).

Sydney Taylor sits in eighth in scoring (15.1 ppg, 409 pts) in the A-10 and is third with 2.4 three-point FGs per game. In the nation, Taylor is tied for 15th in 3FGs attempted (192) and tied for 27th in 3FGs made (65).

Angelique Ngalakulondi is 98-for-162 from the field, placing first in the A-10 with a 60.5 percentage. She is also third in total offensive rebounds (90) and fourth in offensive rebounds per game with a 3.3 average. Destiney Philoxy has aided her teammates, averaging 5.6 assists per game (152 total), to sit in first in the league, while tying for 10th in the nation with her total dimes and 19th in assist per game. Ber'Nyah Mayo is first in the league with 67 steals (2.5 per game; T-1st) and is 21st in the nation with her total swipes.

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 (1,267), while Philoxy is now 13th in career points (1,201) in program history, passing Tamara Tatham on the list (1,186; 2003-07).

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 13th on the career points scored list (1,223). The graduate student has also collected 764 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. She is now etched in fourth in the career records all-time with 493, so far, surpassing Leah McDerment (368 - 2014-18). She is seven assists away from reaching 500 in her career, and will be only the fourth Minutewomen to achieve 500-plus dimes. Philoxy also played in her 100th career game on Jan. 22 at George Washington, while Breen is three contests away from reaching her 100th career game.

Head Coach Tory Verdi is four wins away from achieving his 100th victory at the helm of Massachusetts. His current record with the Minutewomen stands at 96-78.

Breen, the Double-Double Machine
Sam Breen has collected 16 double-doubles on the season for UMass, moving her career total to 39. 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, at St. Bonaventure, vs. George Mason and against Fordham, so far this season. Her 16 double-doubles in 26 games have helped the graduate student tie for 10th in the nation. The graduate student recorded four consecutive double-doubles from Nov. 27 through Dec. 5, and again from Jan. 15 through Jan. 22. She is currently the only A-10 player to have as many double-doubles and be in the top-50 in the nation.

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 152 assists (5.6 assists/game), and is tied for 10th in the nation. The senior has had three contests, so far this season, with 10-plus assists.

Next Up
UMass travels to Saint Louis for its final regular season contest on Saturday, February 26, in Saint Louis, Mo. The game will be aired on ESPN+ at 8 p.m.

Scoreboard