University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
Saint Joseph's
Women’s Basketball Falls To Saint Joseph’s, 67-55
January 18, 2025 | Women's Basketball
Megan Olbrys led the way in scoring with 21 points, shooting 10-for-11 from the field.
AMHERST, Mass. – University of Massachusetts women's basketball (9-9, 4-3 A-10) fell to Saint Joseph's University (14-4, 5-2 A-10), 67-55, at the Mullins Center on Saturday afternoon.
Junior forward Megan Olbrys led UMass in points with 21, making 10-of-11 field goals. Olbrys added four rebounds, two assists and a career-best three blocks on the day. Freshman guard Yahmani McKayle also finished in double figures, securing 11 points. McKayle and sophomore center Chinenye Odenigbo tallied five assists each, marking a career-high for Odenigbo.
Senior guard Allie Palmieri came down with a career and team-best seven rebounds.
Breaking Down the Action
- Saint Joseph's scored first with a three-pointer, as Megan Olbrys answered with a layup to make it a 3-2 start.
- The Hawks scored their second triple of the game, but Olbrys cut the deficit by two with SJU leading 6-4.
- With SJU leading, 9-4, Allie Palmieri responded to another Hawks' three with a three-point shot of her own to get back within two.
- Massachusetts and Saint Joseph's continued its back-and-forth game as Stefanie Kulesza made back-to-back layups to make it a 14-13 contest.
- Yahmani McKayle buried a three from the top of the key to give UMass its first lead of the day at 16-14.
- The two teams tied at 16 apiece, with Olbrys and Kulesza scoring consecutive layups, with Kulesza driving to the hoop, to take the 20-16 lead.
- The first quarter closed with more back-and-forth scoring, as the two team's combined for 60% shooting from the field and UMass held a 22-21 lead.
- Olbrys tied the game, 26-26, at the 7:32 mark, before Kulesza hit a turnaround jumper to give UMass the two-point lead.
- The contest was knotted up for the third time at 5:59 of the second quarter from a driving layup by the Hawks to make it 28-28.
- McKayle broke the tie at the 3:35 mark with a second-chance jumper, but a quick layup by SJU made it a 30-30 game for the fourth tie of the first half.
- The Hawks took an 11-0 run to take a nine-point lead, marking the third largest of the contest, to end the first half.
- Palmieri opened the second half with a shot from beyond the arc to bring the Mintuewomen within six at 39-33.
- Olbrys knocked down a jumper to remain perfect from the field (8-for-8) and secure her 16th point of the afternoon in the third quarter.
- Chinenye Odenigbo made a layup before Palmieri hit her free throw her attempt to cut Saint Joseph's lead to nine at the 6:16 mark.
- SJU pulled ahead by 13, marking the second largest lead of the afternoon, at 51-38 with four minutes and 38 seconds remaining in the third.
- McKayle made a pair of free throws for UMass, but Saint Joseph's hit a pair of shots from the charity stripe to lead by 14, the largest of the game, at 60-46 at 6:26 of the fourth quarter.
- Olbrys' and-one off a second-chance layup put the Minutewomen within nine as SJU continued to lead 62-53.
- Odenigbo fed the ball to Olbrys in the paint, as Olbrys made her 10th field goal of the day and brought UMass within seven.
- Saint Joseph's capped off the game with a 5-0 run, bringing the game to its final score of 67-55.
By the Numbers
- 55.6: In the first half of the game, Massachusetts posted a 55.6 field goal percentage (10-of-18).
- 32: UMass scored 32 of its points in the paint, marking the fourth consecutive contest with 30 or more points in the paint.
- 21: Megan Olbrys totaled a team-leading 21 points, marking her third straight game with 10-plus points (21 vs. Saint Joseph's (1/18/25); 22 vs. La Sale (1/15/25); 18 vs. St. Bonaventure (1/12/25)).
- 10: Olbrys put up double figures in the first quarter alone, knocking down all five field goals attempted for 10 points.
- 7: Allie Palmieri grabbed a career-high seven boards for her team.
- 5: Chinenye Odenigbo dished out a career best 5 assists.
UP NEXT
Massachusetts heads to Kingston, Rhode Island, to face Rhode Island on Wednesday, January 22, for a 6:35 p.m. match up on ESPN+.
