The Massachusetts Women’s basketball team (16-13, 11-7 Atlantic-10) survives against George Washington for a 61-55 win on Wednesday afternoon. Wednesday’s win marks the final regular season contest for UMass in the A-10. UMass will play the waiting game to see who they will play in the A-10 tournament as conference play wraps up on Sunday.
Entering the fourth quarter, UMass trailed by two points in a familiar situation to their previous game against Rhode Island. This time the Minutewomen were able to prevail with a win. UMass had to fight back to win this game after squandering an eight-point lead in the third quarter.
With under three minutes to go in the game, Megan Olbrys made a three-pointer to give UMass a one-point lead. Yahmani McKayle would extend that lead to three by making a layup. George Washington responded by tying the game at 55 with a three made by Kamari Sims. Ultimately, it was Olbrys who scored the winning basket, making a layup from a pass by Lilly Ferguson. UMass sealed the game at the free throw line and now shifts their attention to the A-10 tournament.
UMass has secured a bye in the tournament and will have the benefit of resting up for a week before they play again on March 6 in Henrico, Virginia. Here are some takeaways from Wednesday’s win and what to expect in the tournament.
Olbrys leads by example
Olbrys ends the season as the Minutewomen’s leading scorer, averaging 13.9 points per game. The Norwood, Massachusetts native has been the sparkplug for the Minutewomen’s offense.
Head coach Mike Leflar has said the offense gets going when they find Olbrys down in the post. After a slow start to the first quarter where UMass shot 33 percent and trailed by five, Olbrys took the game over in the second, scoring six points to help the Minutewomen win the quarter 19-9.
Olbrys came up big again in the fourth quarter, scoring points in the clutch to help UMass secure the win. Olbrys finished the game with 20 points, shooting 8-of-15, grabbing five rebounds and gathering three assists. Down the stretch in a close game such as this one, the ball has to be in Olbrys’ hands. She has delivered as a leader and tone-setter for UMass this season and is going to be one of the most important players in the A-10 tournament.
Rookie sensation
Yahmani McKayle had a great game against the Revolutionaries, finishing the game with 18 points on 6-of-15 shooting and two assists. After turning the ball over in the final seconds of the game in Sunday’s loss to Rhode Island, McKayle regrouped and showed why she has been one of the best rookies in the A-10 this year.
McKayle has come under a lot of pressure and scrutiny, she did not have the best start to her UMass career, getting benched early on in the season. However, she has improved her play to where she is one of the first names on the starting lineup. Along the way, McKayle has earned some big accolades, winning A-10’s Rookie of the Week twice, and is UMass’ second-leading scorer averaging 13.2 points per game.
McKayle shares a lot of similarities with the way she plays to former UMass guard Destiney Philoxy. McKayle had the honor to wear Philoxy’s number three jersey during a game against St. Bonaventure. With Philoxy in attendance, McKayle had one of her best home performances scoring 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting making 5-of-8 threes and adding five assists.
McKayle has made it known she wants to win Rookie of the Year, and she can cement that by playing well in the tournament. While Olbrys will get much attention from opposing coaches to stop her from scoring in the post, they better not forget about the speedy McKayle who can drive to the hoop, score from range and dish out assists to her fellow teammates.
Undisciplined basketball
UMass racked up fouls against George Washington. Three Minutewomen had over three fouls. Stefanie Kulesza had three fouls and had to play cautiously for the fourth quarter. Coming off the bench, Momo LaClair got called for two fouls in the second quarter which limited her impact on the game. Leflar had to put freshman Kasey Bretones in for a few minutes of game time.
Chinenye Odenigbo was called for her fourth foul early in the third quarter. This forced UMass to play a lot of small ball with Olbrys at the five. With Odenigbo in foul trouble, UMass missed her presence in the paint as the Minutewomen lost the battle in the paint with the Revolutionaries who outscored them 38-28.
Tournament time
UMass played a close game against George Washington, a team they demolished back in January, winning the game 71-54, which may not give fans confidence in the tournament. However, UMass has been able to show this season they are capable of beating teams they should beat. The Minutewomen will likely finish as the sixth or seventh seed, which means they will face one of the bottom five teams in the conference.
Those teams are VCU, Saint Louis, Loyola Chicago, La Salle and St. Bonaventure. All of these teams UMass has beaten handily. What should worry UMass fans about this team is close game situations. The Minutewomen have not shown they can win these close game situations. They cannot throw that knockout punch, and it shows offensively, as there have been many times when UMass comes empty and the opposition finds a way to seal the game.
Leflar has urged his team to understand what it takes to close out games and hopes his team is in more of these games come the tournament. UMass has the quality and the talent to win this tournament, but they’ll need to be able to deliver in the clutch to do so.
