Championship Sunday: No. 3 Women's Basketball Faces No. 1 Dayton In The A-10 Finals

University of Massachusetts Women's Basketball Game Notes & Information
Atlantic 10 Championships • Championship Central • Printable Bracket
Game 32	No. 3 Massachusetts (25-6) vs. No. 1 Dayton (25-4)
Date // Time	Sunday, March 6 // 2 p.m.
Location	Wilmington, Del. // CHASE Fieldhouse
Watch	ESPN2
Stream	ESPN2
Live Statistics	LiveStats
Game Notes	Massachusetts
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.

Opening Tip: Massachusetts - Dayton Preview

Massachusetts locked in the No. 3-seed with a 74-62 victory at Saint Louis last Saturday night to cap off the regular season with a 23-6 overall record, including an 11-4 record in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

The Minutewomen secured the third-seed for only the fourth time in program history, with the most recent season being 2005, to receive the double-bye into the Quarterfinals Round. In the Quarterfinals, Massachusetts holds a 7-15 record all-time. Last season, UMass was seeded No. 7 in the tournament and reached the A-10 Championship Finals, falling to then-seeded No. 5 VCU, 81-69.

UMass advanced to the A-10 Finals after defeating No. 7-seeded Saint Joseph's, 76-58, in the A-10 Semifinals on Saturday afternoon.

For the Minutewomen, Breen leads UMass in points this season with a total of 521, averaging 16.8 points per game and sits in first in rebounds (319; 10.3 rpg). Destiney Philoxy leads the team with 176 assists, while Ber'Nyah Mayo ranks first in steals with 72. Massachusetts has averaged 71.8 ppg this season, while averaging 40.7 rpg. UMass has outscored its opponents 2,227-1,889 this year.

No. 1 Dayton moved on to the A-10 Finals with a 59-48 win over No. 4 VCU in the A-10 Semifinals on Saturday morning. The Flyers are 25-4 overall on the season.

Makira Cook leads the Flyers in points with 407 (14.5 ppg), while Kyla Whitehead leads the team in reboudns with 199 (7.1 rpg). Araion Bradshaw has accumulated 115 assists and 45 steals on the year to sit in first in both categories. Dayton averages 65.8 points per game and 42.6 rebounds per game, ans has outscored its opponents 1,909-1,580 this season.

In the A-10 Tournament, UMass has faced Dayton once, playing the Flyers in the First Round in 2008, when the Minutewomen fell, 57-51.

A-10 Postseason Accolades
Sam Breen headlined a total of six Atlantic 10 postseason awards for Massachusetts, as she garnered A-10 Player of the Year. Breen became the first Minutewomen in program history to tab the honor.

In addition, Breen also tabbed to the league's All-Conference First Team and the All-Academic Team for the second consecutive year and second time in her career. Destiney Philoxy received All-Conference Second Team honors for the second-straight year and second time in her career, as well, while also placing her name on the All-Defensive Team list. Philoxy is only the third Minutewomen to garner the All-Defensive Team award, joining Jennifer Butler (2001-02; 2002-03) and Brooke Campbell (2004-05). Sydney Taylor also earned A-10 All-Conference Second Team honors for the first time in her collegiate career.

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 25-6, 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 (2,227 pts), with Richmond following close behind, averaging 70.5 ppg (2,115 total). The team also is third in the scoring margin with 10.9 per game.

With a 43.8 field goal percentage (849-of-1,939), UMass sits in second, while ranking second in combined team rebounds (40.7) rpg), tallying 14.1 offensive rebounds per game (1st; 436 total). They are also first in rebounding margin with 8.4. Prior to the A-10 Semifinals,tThe team ranked 16th in the nation in total rebounds and 16th in rebound margin, being one of two A-10 teams in the top-25 of the category (URI - 23rd).

Sam Breen ranks fourth in the conference in scoring with a 16.8 ppg (521 pts), and is second in rebounds with 10.3 per game, placing first in total boards with 319, first in defensive rebounds (217) and third in offensive rebounds (102). In the nation, she was 15th in rebounds and tied for 13th with 17 double-doubles this season, being the only A-10 player with 10-plus double-doubles this season. Breen was also ranked in field goal attempts (T-11th; 487), field goals made (T-22nd; 203) and rebounds per game (T-28th; 10.3), prior to the A-10 Semifinals.

Sydney Taylor sits in sixth in scoring (16.0 ppg, 495 pts) in the A-10 and is second with 2.5 three-point FGs per game. In the nation, Taylor ranked 13th in 3FGs attempted (219) and tied for 21st in 3FGs made (75), prior to the A-10 Semifinals.

Angelique Ngalakulondi is 114-for-187 from the field, placing first in the A-10 with a 61.0 percentage. She is also fourth in total offensive rebounds (100), behind Breen, and fifth in offensive rebounds per game with a 3.2 average. Destiney Philoxy has aided her teammates, averaging 5.7 assists per game (176 total), to sit in first in the league, while placing 12th in the nation before the A-10 Semifinals with her total dimes and 16th in assists per game. Ber'Nyah Mayo is second in the league with 72 steals (2.3 per game) and was tied for 31st in the nation with her total swipes before the A-10 Semifinals Round.

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 11th in career points (1,335), passing Jasmine Watson (1,291; 2009-13), while Philoxy is now 13th in career points (1,230) 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 be tied for 12th with Jasmine Watson (1,291; 2009-13) on the career points scored list (1,291). The graduate student has also collected 796 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 and 500-plus career assists on Feb. 26, 2022. She is now etched in third in the career records all-time with 517, so far, surpassing Kathy Coyner (515 - 1997-01). She is only the fourth Minutewomen to achieve 500-plus dimes and is 16 assists away from passing Christel Zullo's 533 total (1985-89). 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, ranking 11th with 156 total, so far, in her career. Fellow teammate Ber'Nyah Mayo is etched on the career steals list in the record book, as she ranks 16th , passing Katie Nelson (2001-06) with 120 total.

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 100-78.

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 30 games have helped the graduate student tie for 13th in the nation, prior to the A-10 Semifinals. 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, while also being the only one to have 10-plus double-doubles.

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 24 of 31 games played. She has had 15 games with 10-plus points and eight 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 sixth in the Atlantic 10 in scoring, tallying 495 points (16.0 ppg). She also sits in second in three-point field goals per game, averaging 2.5, with 78 recorded (2nd in the league). In the nation, Taylor ranked 13th in 3FGs attempted (219) and tied for 21st in 3FGs made (75) before the A-10 Semifinals Round.

Scoreboard