AMHERST – Trailing by 12 points against Columbia with just over two minutes to go, Sam Breen stepped up to the free throw line in an effort to close the gap slightly. 

Her first shot bounced off the rim and out, and a frustrated Breen threw her arms out to her side as if to say ‘What gives?’ Though she sank the second one, the message was clear – things just weren’t going the Minutewomen’s way on Saturday.

A tired UMass women’s basketball squad wasn’t able to prevent Columbia from doing what it does best at the Mullins Center. The Lions knocked down 14 3-pointers en route to a 83-74 victory, handing UMass just its third loss of the season and its first defeat at the Mullins Center.

Abbey Hsu was unstoppable for the Lions, setting a new career high in points with 34. Hsu went 9-for-11 behind the 3-point arc, shooting an absurd 81.8 percent from downtown.

“We knew coming into this game the type of opponent they were and they did a great job of controlling both sides of the ball, offensively and defensively. They out-toughed us here today, no question about it. They out-coached us here today,” UMass head coach Tory Verdi said. 

The loss felt inevitable, in a way – despite the talent that UMass has on its roster, there was a lot going against it heading into Saturday’s game. Starter Makennah White was still sidelined by a foot injury, and other players have been nursing injuries on and off all season long, bad luck that the Minutewomen have mostly avoided until this year. They’ve also done a lot of traveling; prior to its game against Columbia, UMass had just one home game over the last three-week span, traveling to Miami and Tempe, Ariz. for two separate tournaments that were anything but easy. On top of that, the team of student-athletes is also gearing up for exams. 

Verdi made it clear – they’re not making any excuses for their play. But rest is sorely needed for the Minutewomen to regroup. They’ll have 11 days off to recuperate before their next game, a home contest against St. Peter’s on Dec. 21.

“I think this coming week (off) will be good for us to one, fight through exams, but two, to get healthy and then get back to who we need to be,” Verdi said. “I saw things today that I haven’t seen in a long time from this team.” 

Despite Hsu’s epic night, UMass managed to keep itself in the game until the third quarter when the Lions started to pull away. The Minutewomen came out lethargic, suiting up for a game for the first time in a week. Ber’Nyah Mayo sank the game’s opening layup, but UMass only had the lead for 39 seconds total in the first period. After a pair of free throws from Angelique Ngalakulondi gave the Minutewomen a 4-3 lead, Columbia went on an 8-1 run to jump out to an 11-5 lead. UMass never regained a lead back during the rest of the contest. 

Despite the slow start, UMass went into halftime down just six points, a manageable margin. But despite every effort to pull back within reach, Columbia was always there to knock UMass down on the next possession. The Lions outscored UMass 30-20 in the third quarter to give them a 67-51 lead going into the fourth, when it was too little, too late for the Minutewomen. 

“It was super frustrating. I think Destiney [Philoxy] might have hit a three to bring it within five (in the third), and I thought momentum was going our way… and then they just always had an answer. It’s not like we were getting bad shots, but shots weren’t falling for us, and theirs were,” Breen said. “I thought we did a pretty good job coming out in the fourth, attacking and scoring, but unfortunately it was a little too late. We would score score score, but we were also letting them score score score.” 

Breen led UMass (8-3) with 23 points and 12 rebounds, while Philoxy followed with 17 points. Mayo (13) and Sydney Taylor (11) also finished in double figures for the Minutewomen.