Hailey Leidel had 28 points and 13 rebounds, as the UMass women’s basketball team beat Texas-Rio Grande Valley 74-70 on Tuesday at the Mullins Center. She made four 3-pointers and dished three assists.
Leidel hit two free throws with 26 seconds to put the Minutewomen up two possessions and the game out of reach.
Bre Hampton-Bey added 18 points, 10 assists and six rebounds with a steal.
Anil Soysal went 6-for-8, scoring 12 points.
The Minutewomen (3-1) trailed 40-32 at halftime but rallied in the second half for the win.
Eastern Connecticut State 70, Amherst 67 — Granby native Meghan Sullivan missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer with two seconds left, and the Mammoths lost for the first time in 68 games.
Amherst (2-1) went 33-0 and won national championships the previous two seasons. The team’s last loss was March 19, 2016, to Thomas More in the Final Four.
Hannah Fox led Amherst with 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Madeline Eck scored 19 points with eight rebounds.
Dani Valdez led the Mammoths with 10 rebounds and had eight points.
Meghan Sullivan had four points, five rebounds and three assists, while her sister Kate Sullivan scored two points with a rebound and a steal.
The Mammoths were 2-of-16 from 3 and shot 38.7 percent from the field.
Eastern Connecticut rallied from a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter with 26 points.
MCLA 63, Mount Holyoke 37 — South Hadley’s Samantha Gawron scored 12 points for the Trailblazers in a home win.
The Lyons (0-6) have lost 51 straight games.
Leah Hodges led Mount Holyoke with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Amherst 101, Westfield State 71 — The Mammoths cracked triple-digits for the second consecutive game in a home win.
Grant Robinson led Amherst (3-0) with 20 points. Fru Che (15), Josh Chery (14), Garrett Day (11) and Eric Sellew (10) joined him in double figures.
Sellew grabbed nine rebounds and dished five assists.
Joseph Schneider blocked seven shots.
Amherst 3, St. Michael’s 1 — Patrick Daly scored twice on the power play in the second period.
The Mammoths (1-1) went ahead 1-0 on a Joey Lupo goal in the first period. Mark Esposito and Nick Bondra (three assists) assisted him.
P.J. Conlon and Phil Johansson also had assists.
Michael Cullen made 19 saves for Amherst.
Amherst 3, New England College 1 — Jocelyn Hunyadi scored twice in the second period, as the Mammoths erased a 1-0 deficit.
Katleyn Pantera (assist) found the net from Jamie McNamara (two assists) to tie the game at 3:20.
Stephanie Nomicos also had an assist. Caroline Booraem made 10 saves for Amherst (1-1-1).