Women's Basketball Closes Out Regular Season With A Trip To Saint Louis

University of Massachusetts Women's Basketball Game Notes & Information
Game 29	Massachusetts (22-6, 10-4 Atlantic 10) at Saint Louis (9-16, 5-8 Atlantic 10)
Date // Time	Saturday, February 26 // 8 p.m.
Location	Saint Louis, Mo. // Chaifetz Arena
Watch	ESPN+
Stream	ESPN+
Live Statistics	LiveStats
Game Notes	Massachusetts // Saint Louis
Spectator Policies	Saint Louis' COVID-19 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 Chaifetz Arena in Saint Louis, please visit here.

Last Time Out
University of Massachusetts got back in the win column after defeating VCU 66-57, on Wednesday night in its home finale, to win five straight at the Mullins Center. The Minutewomen are now 22-6 overall, including 10-4 in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Sydney Taylor and Sam Breen led the effort with 23 and 15 points, respectively, as Breen also recorded her 17th double-double and 40th of her career with a game-high 12 boards on the night. Angelique Ngalakulondi tallied double figures for the 11th time this season after putting up 10 points. Destiney Philoxy dished out a game best five dimes, while her and Breen had two steals apiece. Breen registered two blocks for UMass.

All-Time Series vs. Saint Louis
The Minutewomen and the Billikens are meeting for the 23rd time, including the second time this season, with Saint Louis holding the all-time series record at 7-15 and the road series at 2-11. The two programs first met on Feb. 23, 2006, when the BIllikens won 61-57. The last meeting between Massachusetts and Saint Louis was earlier this month on Feb. 5. The Minutewomen held off the Billikens in a hard-fought battle to come away with the 69-66 triumph.

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 22-6, 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 71.8 points per game (2,011 pts), with Richmond following close behind, averaging 71.2 ppg (1,994 total). The team also is third in the scoring margin with 10.9 per game

With a 43.3 field goal percentage (766-of-1,768), UMass sits in third, while ranking second in combined team rebounds (41.3 rpg), tallying 14.4 offensive rebounds per game (1st; 402 total). They are also first in rebounding margin with 8.9. The team is 13th in the nation in total rebounds (1,156) and 15th in rebound margin (8.9), 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 16.7 ppg (468 pts), and is second in rebounds with 10.7 per game, placing first in total boards with 299, first in defensive rebounds (201) and second in offensive rebounds (98). In the nation, she is tied for 11th in rebounds and tied for ninth with 17 double-doubles this season. Breen also is ranked in field goal attempts (ninth; 462), field goals made (T-18th; 193) and rebounds per game (23rd; 10.7).

Sydney Taylor sits in seventh in scoring (15.4 ppg, 432 pts) in the A-10 and is second with 2.4 three-point FGs per game. In the nation, Taylor is tied for 14th in 3FGs attempted (202) and tied for 28th in 3FGs made (68).

Angelique Ngalakulondi is 103-for-168 from the field, placing first in the A-10 with a 61.3 percentage. She is also third in total offensive rebounds (92) and fourth in offensive rebounds per game with a 3.3 average. Destiney Philoxy has aided her teammates, averaging 5.6 assists per game (157 total), to sit in first in the league, while tying for 12th in the nation with her total dimes and in 16th in assists per game. Ber'Nyah Mayo is tied for first in the league with 68 steals (2.4 per game; 2nd) and is tied for 23rd 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 (1,282), while Philoxy is now 13th in career points (1,209) 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 (1,238). The graduate student has also collected 776 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 498, so far, surpassing Leah McDerment (368 - 2014-18). She is two 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 two contests away from reaching her 100th career game.

Philoxy has also put her name on the career steals list, ranking 11th with 155 total, so far, in her career. Fellow teammate Ber'Nyah Mayo is etched on the career steals list in the record book, as she places 19th, so far, with 177 total, surpassing Megan Zullo (116; 2009-12) and Alison MacFarland (116; 1996-00).

Head Coach Tory Verdi is three wins away from achieving his 100th victory at the helm of Massachusetts. His current record with the Minutewomen stands at 97-78.

Breen, the Double-Double Machine
Sam Breen has collected 17 double-doubles on the season for UMass, moving her career total to 40. 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, against Fordham and vs. VCU, so far this season. Her 17 double-doubles in 28 games have helped the graduate student tie for ninth 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.

"Swish" Taylor
Junior Sydney Taylor has been one of the most improved Minutewomen since the 2019-20 season, and entered the WNIT ranking second on the team and No. 5 in the Atlantic 10 in scoring (15.2 ppg) last season. Taylor was outstanding during the 2020-21 A-10 Tournament, averaging a team-high 20 points and being named to the A-10 All-Championship Team alongside Sam Breen and Destiney Philoxy, while adding a career-high-tying 27 points on 8-of-14 shooting, that came in the Quarterfinal win over Fordham.

Taylor kept the momentum going into this season, logging double figures in 21 of 28 games played. She has had 14 games with 10-plus points and six contests with 20-plus points. The junior finished with a new career-high 32 points that led the way for the Minutewomen at VCU.

The Huntington Station, N.Y., native, is seventh in the Atlantic 10 in scoring, tallying 432 points (15.4 ppg). She also sits in second in three-point field goals per game, averaging 2.4, with 68 recorded (2nd in the league). In the nation, Taylor is tied for 14th in 3FGs attempted (202) and tied for 28th in 3FGs made (68).

Next Up
UMass gets set for the Atlantic 10 Conference Championships on Wednesday, March 2-Sunday, March 6. Seedings will be determined on Saturday night, along with game day, times and opponents for the Minutewomen.

Scoreboard