UMass basketball: Stefanie Kulesza, Minutewomen pull away from Saint Louis to improve to 2-0 in the Atlantic 10

UMass’ Stefanie Kulesza scored 21 points in the Minutewomen’s win over Saint Louis on Thursday.

UMass’ Stefanie Kulesza scored 21 points in the Minutewomen’s win over Saint Louis on Thursday. PHOTO BY DEVIN LIPPMAN/UMASS ATHLETICS

Staff Report

Published: 01-02-2025 10:12 PM

Make it five wins in its last six contests for the UMass women’s basketball team, as the Minutewomen cruised to a 72-55 road win over Saint Louis on Thursday night behind a dominant fourth quarter in which they outscored the Billikens 22-9.

With just under seven minutes left in the final frame, Saint Louis’ Kennedy Calhoun made a layup to cut the UMass lead to 55-53. From there, the Minutewomen went on a 17-2 run to close out the game – four different players scoring in that stretch. Stefanie Kulesza and Yahmani McKayle combined for a dozen of those points and Momo LaClair buried a dagger 3-pointer to highlight the spurt.

UMass improved to 2-0 in the Atlantic 10 and 7-6 overall on the season.

The Minutewomen raced out to a 10-1 lead out of the gate, eventually growing their advantage to 28-14 following their highest scoring quarter of the season. They held Saint Louis to just nine second-quarter points to take a 43-23 cushion into halftime. The Billikens responded with a 23-7 third quarter, but UMass immediately answered with its big fourth.

Kulesza was terrific all night, scoring a game-high 21 points and grabbing 12 rebounds to record a double-double. Megan Olbrys proved to be a strong sidekick, netting 18 and also notching a double-double with 10 boards. McKayle dropped 12 points off the bench to lead the second unit. UMass overcame 20 turnovers, perhaps thanks in large part to its 48-31 rebounding margin and 50 percent shooting from behind the arc (7-for-14).

UMass is one of four A-10 teams still undefeated, and the Minutewomen will put that mark to the test once more on Sunday against Richmond. UMass has won both of its first two conference games by 17 points, but the 10-5 Spiders are going to be a whole different beast.

Tip-off for Sunday’s game at the Mullins Center is slated for 1 p.m.

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