AMHERST — There wasn’t any big moment where the game got away from the UMass women’s basketball team Wednesday night. It was the little things that Boston College did all game long, chipping away at the Minutemen bit by bit.
Missing one of their typical starters, Makennah White, UMass had a shorter bench than normal. The Eagles used a solid group of nine players rotating all evening. And though UMass were able to keep up in the first half, going into halftime down by just four points, BC put the dagger in during the third quarter and staved off an attempted comeback in the fourth, walking away with a 66-60 win.
Despite the loss, both Destiney Philoxy and Sam Breen passed the 1,000 point mark, made all the more special because they each hit the milestone in the same game.
“We were like ‘If we can get it on the same day – that’d be so cool.’ It doesn’t happen often,” Breen said. “And for us, two captains, we’ve really been bonded together this year. Just trusting one another a lot more, talking a lot more and I just think it’s awesome to get it with on the same night. A win would have sealed the deal, it’s definitely cool to get it on her on the same night.”
After the game, UMass coach Tory Verdi said it was a ‘coach’s decision’ to sit White, and though Ber’Nyah Mayo, another mainstay, stepped up in White’s absence, it wasn’t enough for UMass to earn the win. Mayo and Breen co-led UMass with 14 points, and Mayo also picked up three steals. Breen and Angelique Ngalakulondi each grabbed eight boards. UMass struggled giving the ball away, finishing the game with 20 turnovers and overall looked lost defensively.
“I don’t think that we did anything defensively…I thought that at times we were dysfunctional and I think – I told the team this – there’s more to basketball than just basketball. You’ve got to be systematic. What you’re doing offensively and defensively, everybody needs to know their jobs,” Verdi said. “And when one person doesn’t do their job, then you don’t function and then you give things up. If you’re not in the right place at the right time, doing the right things, then we break down, and we broke down today.”
UMass clung to the lead for the first part of the opening quarter, but the Eagles took it back with just over three minutes left in the first. BC stretched its lead to five, ending the first quarter with a 23-18 lead.
Verdi called timeout after BC made it 27-18 with 7:38 left in the second quarter, the Eagles lead so far. Though it wasn’t easy, the Minutewomen clawed a 5-0 run to close out the second frame and pulled back within striking distance, going into halftime down 33-29.
The Eagles pulled away in the third quarter, outscoring UMass 26-16. Every time the Eagles would start to go on a run, Verdi called timeout to try and quell the momentum, but it never took BC long to get comfortable again.
There were moments when it looked like UMass might have found a catalyst to get back in the game, like when Philoxy brought the bench to its feet with a strong drive to the basket for a layup, drawing a foul in the process and sinking the extra shot to make it a nine-point game early in the third. But those moments were infrequent and too far apart to build any momentum. Defensively, BC didn’t give UMass any space, not giving top scorers like Breen or Sydney Taylor an extra inch to get a clean shot off, and that was a clear thorn in the Minutewomen’s side.
“We didn’t have the ability to drive and kick…They’re not going to give sit any open threes. I thought they did a great job of playing our personnel,” Verdi said. “They stick their five player right in though the paint, didn’t play (Ngalakulondi), they didn’t play Michelle (Pruitt). That’s one thing, and so then it’s hard driving to the basket – you got a defender on you and you’ve got somebody who’s 6-3 sitting in the paint who’s super long, so we never had those opportunities.”
With a little less than four minutes to go in the fourth period, the UMass team came roaring back to life, and looked like it might be able to pull off yet another comeback against BC, outscoring the Eagles 9-3 in the first eight minutes to make it an eight-point game. That late-game surge has become a go-to move for the Minutewomen, even if it didn’t end up working out on Wednesday.
“The second half is our best half. First half we’re sloppy, we’re getting used to the game, (the) second half is our best half,” said Philoxy.
They couldn’t pull much closer than that. Philoxy fouled out on a charge with 49 seconds remaining, and though Sam Breen sank two free throws late to make it a six-point game and Mayo sank a late layup, BC held on in the final minute. For those who were on the team last season, the Eagle’s style of play felt familiar, and was just as successful at holding back the Minutewomen despite their best efforts.
“I feel like it’s the fact that they punched first again. First half they punched us, we expected them to just lay back, but they punched again,” said Philoxy on why their late-game surge didn’t work against the Eagles. “So now we were backed up instead of coming towards them. And now we learn how to punch back (in the) first half and second half. Boston College proved that they could do it, so why can’t we?”