By the end of the first quarter at Arizona State on Friday, the UMass women’s basketball team had a commanding lead. By halftime, it was a dominant one. When UMass opened the third quarter with a 12-2 run, capped by a Destiney Philoxy layup that forced a Sun Devils timeout, it was already over.
UMass steamrolled Arizona State, securing an 88-64 win in the Briann January Classic. It’s the program’s first win over a Power 5 school since 2008, and the Minutewomen made a statement with the victory.
“I think anytime you beat a Power 5 school, that’s great one. I thought that we came up with a sense of urgency and we really deflated them,” UMass coach Tory Verdi said. “We took it to them on both sides of the ball. I thought offensively they couldn’t get anything going, they were frustrated. We did a great job of scouting our opponent and following through and executing the game plan.”
A game after Ber’Nyah Mayo set a new career-high with 21 points against Yale, Angelique Ngalakulondi set a new career record of her own, also notching 21 points against the Sun Devils, shooting 10-13 from the field to lead the team in scoring. Sam Breen registered her fifth double-0double of the season with 16 points and 11 boards, while Saint Joseph’s transfer Laila Fair snagged 10 rebounds and scored eight points. Sydney Taylor fell just shy of her own doubl0- double with 13 points and nine assists, and Philoxy matched her with 13 points of her own along with three assists. The graduate student from the Bronx is four away from becoming the all-time assists leader at UMass.
UMass (8-1) quickly jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the first three and a half minutes. Though Arizona State came back and tied it at 11, the Minutewomen closed out the first half with a 9-0 run.
It was much the same in the second quarter – the Minutewomen led by as many as 20 points at one point during the second period, but settled for a just a 16-point lead at halftime. UMass entered the locker room up 42-26 after 20 minutes of basketball. Seven different Minutewomen made at least one bucket, with Sydney Taylor and Philoxy leading the team with nine points apiece.
Beyond shooting at nearly a 50 percent clip, knocking down 17 of its 37 field goal attempts, UMass frustrated every single player on the Sun Devils team. Nobody could get a clean look – ASU leading scorer Tyi Skinner was limited to just five points in the first half – and Verdi was particularly pleased with the post play of Fair and Ngalakulondi against familiar foe Kayla Mokwuah.
“When she was at (George Washington)…three years ago, I think, before transferring…she kicked our butts. She had a night and they ended up beating us,” Verdi said on Mokwuah. “So it was great to see both Ang and Laila defend her and not let her be an impact player that she can be.”
Arizona State attempted to overwhelm UMass on defense, setting up double teams and often throwing a full court press at the Minutewomen, but despite a couple of fumbles, the visitors easily worked their way around them.
“I thought that our guards, except for a couple of cases where we turned the ball over, did a really good job of attacking,” Verdi said. “With their pressure, they’re running two people at the ball. And so as soon as we either go by them or make a pass, then we have opportunities where it could be a three-on-two, it could be a two-on-one…They were giving us layups. I was pretty surprised that they didn’t take it off. But I guess that’s just something that they do.”
As the Minutewomen continued to build up the lead in the third and fourth quarters, a few more of UMass’ bench players got in on the action. Besides Fair’s 10 boards and eight points, Kristin Williams also secured her first collegiate points, knocking down six points and grabbing two steals. Alexzeya Brooks (three points) Piath Gabriel (two points) Stefanie Kulesza and Lilly Ferguson also got in on the action late.
“It was great to see Kristin Williams out there for the first time and knocking down a three…She needs to get some of those minutes to get some confidence and play the way I know that she’s capable of playing. It’s been hard to get those minutes and I’m hoping that this parlays into more minutes down the road,” Verdi said. “I’m also impressed with the minutes that Lex has given us.”