A dominant third quarter effort turned the tide for the UMass women’s basketball team on Sunday.
Trailing 28-23 at halftime, the Minutewomen outscored host La Salle by a 19-9 margin in the third frame. That effort ultimately propelled UMass to a 60-50 Atlantic 10 victory in Philadelphia.
The Minutewomen improved to 12-10 overall, 7-4 in the A-10 with their third consecutive victory and fifth in their last seven games.
Megan Olbrys paced UMass with 17 points and eight rebounds, while Allie Palmierie went for 15 points and Yahmani McKayle joined them in double figures with 12 points and five assists.
Trailing 34-28 in the third, UMass embarked on a 10-0 run to take a 38-34 lead that it would not relinquish. Palmieri hit a 3-pointer and Olbrys scored back-to-back buckets during the spree to put the visitors in front.
The Minutewomen added an 11-0 run later in the third that carried into the fourth, capped by another Palmieri 3-pointer to give the visitors a 49-37 lead with 7:36 to go in regulation. La Salle (8-16, 2-9) wouldn’t get closer than nine points the rest of the way.
It was the second win against the Explorers in less than three weeks, as UMass also handled La Salle by an 82-66 margin in Amherst back on Jan. 15.
UMass forced 19 turnovers to just 11 committed, and limited the Explorers to just 32.8 percent shooting from the field (25 percent from 3).
The Minutewomen look to make it four in a row as they return home to welcome last place St. Bonaventure (5-17, 1-10) on Wednesday at 6 p.m. UMass took down the Bonnies on the road back on Jan. 12 (67-58).