UMass was down big twice and missed Sam Breen with foul trouble, yet had a chance to cap a remarkable comeback and beat Boston College at the end of regulation.

Ber’Nyah Mayo’s 3-pointer from the corner hit the back iron with 1.8 seconds left, forcing overtime. There, the Eagles put the Minutewomen away with a 90-82 victory, Sunday afternoon in Boston.

“It tells you about our fight, our character,” UMass coach Tory Verdi said. “I’m really proud of our team. We stayed with it. We didn’t play our best basketball in the first 20 minutes of the game and we challenged them at halftime. They came out and answered. I thought we did a lot of things right in the second half and we had an opportunity to win the basketball game.”

Breen sat the final 6:41 of the second quarter with two fouls and the final 4:48 of the third with her fourth foul. She started the fourth and scored 13 of her career-high 31 points in the final frame. Four of those baskets gave the Minutewomen the lead in the back-and-fourth quarter.

“I had the open shots and I took it,” Breen said. “Luckily they were falling.”

A 13-0 run to start overtime put the Minutewomen away. UMass had four turnovers on its first six possessions in OT.

“We fell behind and they came out with a great sense of urgency,” Verdi said. “I felt like it was the beginning of the first period. Lack of execution, turning the ball over and all of sudden giving points up on the opposite end and it just kind of got away from us.”

The Eagles led 30-11 late in the first quarter when the Minutewomen charged back the first time. UMass closed within 37-26 when it lost Breen with her third. She had scored 12 points by that point.

“Staying engaged on the bench is a huge part of playing,” Breen said. “You can’t check out just because you’re not in the actual game.”

The Eagles extended their lead to 48-28 with 3:13 left before halftime, but Sydney Taylor (19 points) gave UMass a boost into the break. The sophomore scored seven straight points as the Minutewomen closed within 48-35 at the break.

The momentum continued into the second half as UMass outscored BC 27-9 to close within 57-55 entering the fourth. Both teams traded haymakers and the lead throughout the final frame.

Maddie Sims added 10 points. Mayo finished with seven points. Destiney Philoxy had seven points and eight assists before fouling out. Desiree Oliver had six points and five assists in 29 minutes off the bench.

Mike Moran can be reached at mmoran@gazettenet.com. Follow on Twitter @mikemoranDHG.