AMHERST — Amidst a sea of rambunctious and roaring children, the UMass women’s basketball team soundly defeated Akron, 82-68, on Wednesday in Mid-American Conference play.
It was the first-ever meeting between UMass (12-3, 4-1 MAC) and Akron (3-14, 0-5). The programs met on Field Trip Day at the Mullins Center where 5,121 mostly little fans were in attendance from various schools, mostly elementary, around Western Massachusetts.
The Minutewomen had five different players in double-figures. Allie Palmieri led the way with 16 points on 7-from-11 from the floor. UMass had a 26-point lead with three minutes, 53 seconds left in the game.
“We want to be really well balanced,” UMass coach Mike Leflar said. “Fortunately, we are this year. I think to start games typically we want to establish the post first. Today we relied on the three in the first quarter. We were making shots. Then I thought we got a little bit too perimeter happy in the second quarter. But we were able to find that balance in the second half.”
UMass had a 10-0 run in the first quarter to build an early lead. Play dipped in the second quarter, but UMass ran out to a 16-point lead in the third quarter after a 3-pointer by Palmieri with 6:45 left. UMass only trailed in the game for 31 seconds in the first quarter.
“Really proud of the way we started the game,” Leflar said. “As I told the team, typically in games like this you have 5,000ish fans at the game. A lot of adrenaline moving early. Was happy we were able to sustain it. Maybe took a little dip in the second quarter. But certainly, bounced back in the third.”
Lilly Ferguson and Jess Ross both scored 13 points for the Minutewomen. Ross and Ferguson had more prominent roles with Chinenye Odenigbo missing the game with an illness. Ross shot 6-for-10 and added four rebounds.
“We were prepared knowing Chi (Odenigbo) was going to be out today,” Ferguson said. “I was prepared to start. Jess (Ross) was prepared to play some extra minutes. I think we just took advantage of that and knew we had to step up and play our best game today. That’s exactly what we did.”
Ferguson led UMass with seven rebounds, logging 29 total minutes. The Minutewomen moved to 7-0 at the Mullins Center this season. Protecting home court was a point of emphasis long before the season started.
“In terms of routine I feel like we’re all thinking about protecting home court,” Ross said. “Taking pride in protecting our house. Coming into every game on the same wavelength. Everyone has the same mindset to protect Mullins.”
Dynamic point guard Yahmani McKayle had 15 points and 11 assists for the Minutewomen. It was a career-high in assists for McKayle. UMass had 25 assists as a team. McKayle connected on her first two 3-point attempts of the game in the first quarter. She finished 6-for-12 from the floor.
“She (McKayle) does all the little things,” Ross said. “You know that she is going to find you in the right spots. She is really trustworthy. You know she is going to get you the ball at the right time.”
Megan Olbrys had 13 points and five rounds for UMass. The Minutewomen go on the road to play Buffalo (2-13) in MAC play on Saturday at 1 p.m.