Women’s Basketball Edged Out By Harvard, 89-87, In WNIT Second Round

AMHERST, Mass. – University of Massachusetts women's basketball fell 89-87 to Harvard University in the Second Round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) on Monday night at the Mullins Center. Graduate student Sam Breen broke a previous single-season points scored record on the night, to finish her season with 589 points, surpassing Sue Peters record of 587 from the 1978-79 season.

UMass completed its successful season 27-6, while Harvard improved to 19-11 on the year. The Minutewomen earned the most wins in program history, among other accomplishments throughout the year.

Sydney Taylor led the team with 21 points, followed by Destiney Philoxy with 16 on the night. Sam Breen scored 14 points and came down with 11 rebounds to record her 20^th double-double of the season and 60^th of her career, while Ber'Nyah Mayo put up 15 points and tied her career-high with 10 assists for the third double-double of her career. Philoxy and Mayo registered two steals each and Breen had the lone block.

Massachusetts outrebounded Harvard, 34-32, and shot 66.7 percent (10-for-15) from the charity stripe.

The Minutewomen came out hot in the first quarter, getting on the board first with Philoxy's layup in the opening seconds. UMass continued its scoring pursuits, going on a 12-4 run, before Harvard went on a run of its own to close the gap. The two teams traded three-pointers, as the Crimson had the slight 21-20 lead. Harvard pulled away with a 7-4 run to end the quarter up by four at 28-24.

Harvard extended its run knocking down a triple to open the second quarter. Both the Minutewomen and Crimson kept the scoring close from there, as they traded 13 points apiece with Harvard having the 44-37 advantage at the 3:17 mark. The Crimson began a small 7-3 run, elapsing two minutes and six seconds, but a three-pointer from Taylor with only eight seconds left on the clock brought UMass within eight heading into halftime.

UMass came out firing in the second half, as Taylor opened up the scoring with a subsequent triple at 9:53. Taylor splashed yet another three-pointer less than a minute later, continuing what would be a 14-5 run for the Minutewomen. Philoxy's layup at 7:53 gave UMass the 53-51 lead, before Harvard answered back with a 13-7 run of its own to mount a five-point lead at the end of the third quarter.

In the final frame, both teams traded baskets before Taylor sunk yet another three-pointer at 6:37 to spark a 16-4 run for the Minutewomen. After a pair of complete free throws from Makennah White to give UMass an 84-82 advantage, the Crimson rallied a 7-3 run to garner a two-point victory, advancing into the WNIT Super 16.

Scoreboard