The UMass women’s basketball team walked away with a 58-52 victory in its season opener against Old Dominion in Monday night’s MAC-SBC Challenge in Virginia. The Minutewomen got out to a lead with roughly six minutes to play in the first quarter, and never looked back.
After an impressive freshman campaign, Yahmani McKayle started off her second year at UMass with a team-high 14-point performance. Adding five rebounds and four assists, the sophomore continued to showcase why she was named the Atlantic-10 Rookie of the Year last season.
URI transfer Ayanna Franks had the Minutewomen’s second-most points on the night, with nine points and eight rebounds, getting to the free-throw line 10 times.
Megan Olbrys was another bright spot for UMass, finishing with seven points and leading the Minutewomen in rebounds with nine, and plus-minus at plus-12.
The biggest story of the night was the Monarchs’ offensive struggles. Despite taking 20 more attempts than UMass, Old Dominion went 20-for-70 (28.6%) from the field, and 3-for-20 (15%) from beyond the arc.
Despite the Minutewomen not having their best night shooting, they went 20-for-50 (40%) from the field and 4-for-13 (30.8%) from three.
All eight Minutewomen who played Monday saw at least 10 minutes of playing time, with all but two finishing with seven or more points.
UMass gave the Monarchs possessions consistently throughout the game, finishing the contest with 22 turnovers and surrendering 20 offensive rebounds.
The Minutewomen controlled the game throughout all four quarters, getting out to an 11-point lead in the first and peaking with a 40-22, 18-point lead in the third.
With the victory, UMass begins its first season in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) on the right foot.
The Minutewomen will be back in action for the home opener against Sienna on Saturday, Nov. 8, at 2 p.m.
