The Massachusetts Women’s Basketball team brought down an avalanche of baskets in the 81-50 blowout win over Northeastern on a snowy Thursday night. The Minutewomen now improve to 3-5 as they embark on a three-game road trip.
After committing back-to-back turnovers UMass was down 4-2 early in the first quarter, however, the Minutewomen locked in and never looked back. Allie Palmieri was the catalyst for the onslaught of baskets made in the first quarter. Palmieri made her first three at the seven-minute mark, giving UMass their first lead of the game.
That opened up the floodgates for the Minutewomen with Momo LaClair, Yahmani McKayle and Palmieri all making threes to stretch the lead to 13.
Palmieri led the scoring for UMass with 19 points shooting 8-of-12 from the field and 3-of-5 from three. She also contributed five rebounds and two assists. A bounce-back performance after going 2-of-13 from the field and 0-of-8 from three against Siena on Sunday.
“Really proud of our effort,” head coach Mike Leflar said. “I’m really proud to see the bounce back after a difficult loss over the weekend and the way our team responded in practice was awesome, and to see them get the results on the floor it was deserved tonight, and I was really proud of that.”
LaClair entered the starting lineup in Thursday’s game against the Huskies, with McKayle coming off the bench due to her poor shooting performances. LaClair finished with five points, shooting 2-of-7 with five rebounds and six assists. McKayle gave energy off the bench, finishing with 13 points shooting 5-of-13 from the field, and had three assists and rebounds.
The offense continued their domination by scoring points in the paint. UMass closed the first quarter on a 24-4 run that was capped off by a buzzer-beater by Lilly Ferguson to give the Minutewomen an 18-point lead. Ferguson continues to be a spark off the bench, contributing eight points and leading the team in rebounds with six. She also made another buzzer-beater to end the third quarter.
“That was a really awesome brand of basketball, that’s who we want to be,” Leflar said. “The energy, the enthusiasm we played with tonight was really infectious, and it does affect the ball going, and it does affect the types of possessions you have and to show up like that in practice after a difficult loss was a good testament to our team’s character.”
UMass continued their domination in the second quarter, with Megan Olbrys leading the way. Olbrys scored eight points in the quarter and went on a small run of scoring six straight points for the Minutewomen. In total, Olbrys finished with 17 points shooting a perfect 7-of-7. She led the team in assists with seven and grabbed five boards, continuing where she left off after her impressive performance on Sunday.
“I’ve said before my teammates trust me, and I think that what’s honestly gives me the confidence [to score] because I know they are going to give the pass to me where I want it or where I need it and just putting my team in position to put the ball in the hoop.” Olbrys said.
UMass outscored Northeastern 46-12 after the Huskies took a two-point lead. The Minutewomen held Northeastern to shoot 27 percent from the field and 1-of-7 from three. Northeastern was forced into 11 turnovers, with UMass scoring 16 points off of them.
Rebounding played a key part in the first half with UMass outrebounding Northeastern 26-9. The Minutewomen had 13 offensive rebounds which accounted for 18 second-chance points.
Ultimately, this was the best half of basketball the Minutewomen have played this season shooting 54 percent from the field, 50 percent from three and scoring 22 points in the paint. The 31-point victory is the largest in Leflar’s tenure and at one point in the game, UMass led by 42 points midway through the third quarter
“The margin [of victory] matters less to me, the win [means more] to me,” Leflar said. “I really thought our team deserved [to win] by the way they practiced and by the way we went through shootaround today … it was nice to play not in a close game and be on the winning side,”
Being in control all game saw some players on UMass be allowed to play who would not usually enter the game. Dallas Pierce was able to show off her three-point shooting ability making 2-of-3 from beyond the arc, finishing with six points. Freshman Kasey Bretones earned her first collegiate minutes of her career.
UMass will be back in action on the road against Dartmouth on Sunday, Dec. 8 at 6:30 p.m. in Hanover, New Hampshire.
