University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
3-14,1-4Atlantic 10
La Salle
6-10,3-2Atlantic 10
Women’s Basketball Drops 70-64 Decision To La Salle On The Road
January 13, 2024 | Women's Basketball
Bre Bellamy led the Minutewomen with 14 points and Chinenye Odenigbo registers a career-high 10 rebounds on the day.
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – University of Massachusetts women's basketball fell to La Salle University, 70-64, on Saturday afternoon at Tom Gola Arena.
Bre Bellamy led the team with 14 points, while adding nine rebounds. Alexsia Rose and Stefanie Kulesza followed with 12 points apiece, with both tallying four assists each. Kulesza also came down with nine boards and totaled three swipes. Chinenye Odenigbo recorded a career-best and game-high 10 rebounds on the afternoon. As a team, UMass shot 61.5 percent (8-for-13) from the free throw line.
La Salle pushed ahead early, 9-4, but UMass took the lead after going on a 16-6 run throughout the first quarter. Stefanie Kulesza put the Minutewomen within three with layup, before coming up with a steal and making another layup. Kulesza's third consecutive layup gave Massachusetts the go-ahead basket at 10-9. Kristin Williams, Tori Hyduke and Chinenye Odenigbo contributed to the score to make it a 16-9 game with 3:07 left in the quarter. Both teams scored four points apiece, as UMass led by seven with 20 seconds remaining. The Explorers added two more points to their total, but the Minutewomen held on to a 20-15 lead.
Williams made the first basket of the second quarter to pull Massachusetts ahead 22-15. At the 6:33 mark, La Salle grabbed the first points of the quarter with a triple, but Bre Bellamy and Lilly Taulelei combined for four points to lead by eight at 26-18. An 11-4 Explorers run brought them within one, as UMass led 30-29 with two minutes and 31 seconds remaining in the first half. Bellamy knocked down a three-pointer to extend the lead and provide her with her ninth point of the half. A driving layup and an and-one for La Salle's Nicole Melious made it a one-point contest, once again, before Kulesza scored her eighth point of the half with a second left on the clock.
The two teams traded seven points each with UMass holding on to a 42-39 lead heading into the first media timeout of the third, as Kulesza tallied four points and Hyduke hit her first triple of the day. Two good free throws from Alexsia Rose pushed Massachusetts ahead by five, while holding La Salle without a bucket for over three minutes. A free throw and a driving layup put the Explorers back within two at 44-42, before Hyduke made the layup and headed to the charity stripe to provide a five-point lead at the end of the third for the Minutewomen.
La Salle began the final frame with an 11-0 run, taking over the lead at 49-47 at the 8:43 mark. Three free throws from Rose and one from Bellamy put UMass within two, as the Explorers led 53-51. La Salle continued to lead throughout the remainder of the fourth, despite scores from Rose and Odenigbo, to close out that game at 70-64.
UMass returns to the Mullins Center on Wednesday, January 17 for a 6 p.m., tip against Loyola Chicago.
