Dominant Team Effort Keys 81-50 Women’s Basketball Win Over Northeastern

AMHERST, Mass. – University of Massachusetts women's basketball (3-5, 0-0 A-10) propelled past Northeastern University (1-6, 0-0 CAA), 81-50, at the Mullins Center on Thursday evening. Three Minutewomen scored in double figures, led by senior Allie Palmieri's 19 points, making a career-high eight field goals, including three from beyond the arc.

Megan Olbrys continued her highly efficient stretch for the Minutewomen, tallying 17 points in addition to 7 assists and 5 rebounds on 7-7 shooting from the field. Olbrys is now 16-17 from the field in her last two games.

Massachusetts guard Yahmani McKayle was the third Minutewomen to hit double figures in the scoring column, totaling 13 points. The freshman hit three shots from behind the arc, going 3-4. McKayle also tallied three rebounds, three assists, and two steals.

Breaking Down the Action

Allie Palmieri got off to a hot start with a jumper and three to give UMass the 5-4 lead.

Momo Laclair and Palmieri knocked down back-to-back triples to aid in the 11-0 first quarter run.

Megan Olbrys hit two shots from the free throw line to add to the run with 5:03 remaining to lead 13-4.

Chinenye Odenigbo and Yahmani McKayle contributed to the Minutewomen's run, making it 16-0, with a layup and three-pointer for an 18-4 lead at the 3:40 mark.

Back-to-back layups from Olbrys and Odenigbo brought the Minutewomen to a 22-5 lead with 3:00 remaining in the first quarter.

Lilly Ferguson scored a second-chance jumper at the buzzer, topping off a dominating 26-8 first quarter.

UMass put together a 22-8 run in the second quarter, with a 26-8 run that continued from the three-minute mark of the first.

Two consecutive layups from Palmieri gave the Minutewomen a 30-8 lead to begin the second quarter.

Stefanie Kulesza scored a second-chance jumper off a Northeastern turnover, before a driving layup from Olbrys pulled UMass ahead 34-8 with 6:44 remaining.

After a pair of made free throws from the Huskies, back-to-back layups by Olbrys and a jumper off a Northeastern turnover pushed the Minutewomen to a 40-10 lead at the 3:17 mark.

Dallas Pierce made a shot from beyond the arc with 2:58 left on the clock to extend Massachusetts' lead.

The two teams traded a layup each with Olbrys helping UMass to a 45-14 lead

Pierce knocked down her second three of the night with 18 seconds remaining as the Minutewomen entered halftime with a 48-16 advantage over the Huskies.

The duo Olbrys and Palmieri continued to dominate in the second half, as Olbrys made a layup, while Palmieri made a three-pointer to make it a 53-17 contest.

Olbrys hit her second free throw at the 5:33 mark of the third quarter followed by a Laclair layup to extend the lead to 58-19.

McKayle sunk two three-pointers and three field goals, leading the team with 8 points in the third quarter.

Ferguson netted her second buzzer-beating layup of the night to end the third quarter, topping off a 20-point frame for the Minutewomen.

The Huskies scored 13 points in the third quarter, cutting the Massachusetts lead to 68-29 going into the final frame.

The Minutewomen started a small 9-5 run that elapsed four minutes and eight seconds, highlighted by four points from Ferguson and capped by a shot from beyond the arc from Kulesza at 5:59 of the fourth for a 75-34 UMass lead.

Odenigbo capped off scoring for the Minutewomen with a layup at 2:31 remaining on the clock, leaving Massachusetts with 81 points on the night.

By the Numbers

53: Massachusetts shot 53% from three-point range, making 10-19 attempts.

48: The Minutewomen tallied 48 points in the first half, marking a season-high in either the first or second half.

42: The Maroon and White out-rebounded Northeastern 42-19.

37: UMass held the lead for 37 minutes and 48 seconds of game action.

33: The Massachusetts bench scored 33 points, led by Yahmani McKayle with 13.

27.3: UMass' defense held Northeastern to 27.3% shooting from the field in the first quarter, allowing only six points in that span.

26: Massachusetts scored 26 points of its total 81 points just in the first quarter.

22: UMass tallied 22 assists, 12 more than their competitors.

16: The Minutewomen scored 16 unanswered points in the first quarter, ending the quarter on a 20-1 run.

7: Megan Olbrys dished out a career-high seven assists.

UP NEXT

The Minutewomen head to Hanover, New Hampshire, for a 6:30 p.m. contest against Dartmouth on Sunday, December 8, on ESPN+.

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