University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
27-6,14-2Atlantic 10
UAlbany
22-12,14-2America East
Women’s Basketball Breezes By UAlbany, 73-48, In WNIT First Round
March 17, 2023 | Women's Basketball
Taylor led with 19 points, while Ngalakulondi recorded a double-double with 17 points and a career-high 15 rebounds.
AMHERST, Mass. – Seniors Sydney Taylor and Angelique Ngalakulondi led the University of Massachusetts women's basketball team to a 73-48 victory over the University of Albany on Friday night at the Mullins Center in the First Round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT). Taylor tallied 19 points in the win, while Ngalakulondi recorded her fourth double of the season, and ninth of her career, with 17 points and a career best 15 rebounds.
UMass improved to 27-5 on the season, garnering most wins in program history, while UAlbany finished with a 22-12 record on the year. The Minutewomen held the Great Danes to lowest total in a postseason game in program history.
In addition to Taylor and Ngalakulondi, Sam Breen and Makennah White reached double figures with 16 and 12 points, respectively. Breen came down with 11 boards to go along with her point total to register her 19th double-double of the season and 59th of her career. Destiney Philoxy dished out a game-high six assists, as Ber'Nyah Mayo led the team in steals with two. Ngalakulondi also had a game best two blocks.
Massachusetts outrebounded UAlbany, 54-39, and doubled the Great Danes in points in the paint, 40-20.
UMass got on the board first, but a jumper from UAlbany tied up the contest. The Great Danes went on a small 8-4 run to lead, 8-6, with 6:20 on the clock. A layup by Philoxy knotted the game up at 8-8, before the two teams traded a three-pointer apiece to make it an 11-11 draw. Massachusetts began a 15-7 run to take the lead at the end of the first at 23-18.
The Minutewomen then outscored the Great Danes 13-8 in the second quarter for a 36-26 halftime lead. A three pointer by Breen midway through the second quarter made it a 30-22 game in favor of UMass, as White scored the final four points of the quarter for the Minutewomen.
Massachusetts came out hot in the third, going on a 10-2 run to lead, 46-28. Momentum shifted UAlbany's way for a bit in the third quarter, as the Great Danes went on a 10-5 run, but three more points for the Minutewomen kept them at a 54-38 lead to end the quarter. In the final frame, UMass put up 19 points to UAlbany's 10 to push past the Great Danes with a final score of 73-48.
Massachusetts hosts Harvard for the Second Round of the WNIT at the Mullins Center on Monday, March 20, at 7 p.m.
