The Massachusetts women’s basketball team finished the season (16-13, 11-7 Atlantic-10) and secured the seventh seed in the A-10 tournament. UMass exceeded expectations this season after a miserable, 2023-24 campaign that saw them go 5-27 with only two conference wins.
This season’s A-10 poll reflected that, with UMass sitting at 13th. The Mike Leflar era started abysmal, and with key players such as Kristin Williams transferring out from last year, the Minutewomen were back at the drawing board to figure out what they needed. What they did have were two players who remain from the glory days of Minutewomen basketball, Stefanie Kulesza and Lilly Ferguson, who became the leaders of the team.
Along with those two, UMass has five other players returning from last year’s team. In addition to that, UMass welcomed a variety of young talent and some upperclassmen transfers. Their biggest addition from last year, Allie Palmieri, would be eligible to play this season after sitting out.
There were a lot of questions to ask about this team. Scoring has been an issue for UMass with no real player being able to step up to become the number one scorer. Rebounding was the biggest weakness of the Minutewomen last year, as every opponent they faced would beat them at the glass. The real challenge for UMass was that they didn’t have an identity all of last year. It’s tough to follow up on two A-10 championships, a trip to the NCAA tournament and two of the best players the programs had ever had in Sam Breen and Destiney Philoxy graduating.
All of last year, UMass played with no control or authority. This year, it started the same way, with UMass sitting at 5-6 and entering conference play. There were glimpses of brilliance by blowing out teams like Northeastern by over 30 points, but some lows were losing such close games that were winnable, such as against Army in November. Suddenly, the Minutewomen started to click entering conference play, they found their identity.
This is a team that loves to score in the paint, finding their bigs down in the post. Once they start scoring in the paint, they can kick out to shoot threes or make a midrange shot. They are aggressive on defense, turning to many types of pressure to get the opposition out of rhythm. One thing is for sure, you don’t want to be a victim of UMass’ full-court press, otherwise, it’s going to end in a turnover with points for the Minutewomen.
UMass is led by a transfer from Villanova, Megan Olbrys. Olbrys has been the sparkplug for UMass, her ability to dominate in the post and score in the paint is the key to UMass’ offense. Leflar has said multiple times that the offense starts with finding Olbrys in the post. Once she gets going, it opens up the floor for everyone else. You know you’re doing well when opposing teams are making up game plans and sending every player they have to stop you from scoring.
Olbrys’ play has not gone unnoticed, as she earned third-team all-conference. Along with Olbrys’ success, UMass has found another sensation in freshman Yahmani McKayle. McKayle’s rise has been fun to watch.
While she is short in stature, she comes in with a lot of speed and aggression on both offense and defense. The Queens, New York native plays with swagger and received a lot of praise from opposing coaches.
She’s a three-headed assassin, with the way she can pull up and shoot from three, step back and shoot a midrange and drive to paint with ease. UMass press works so well because of McKayle’s movement on and off the ball. All of this is why McKayle was chosen as the A-10 rookie of the year.
Last year, the Minutewomen didn’t have anyone who could take over a game. Now they have three to four players who can do that. UMass will not be an easy out in the tournament, as they were last year. UMass fights hard and plays with intensity every single minute. While all the talk going on is about Richmond repeating as A-10 champions, or George Mason or Davidson could dethrone them. Why not UMass?
The last time UMass finished as the seventh seed, they went all the way to the final in 2021. Although they didn’t end up winning, they beat number two Fordham and number three Saint Louis.
The Minutewomen might be in this same scenario, as they would have to go through George Mason and Davidson. UMass played George Mason close, only losing by 10, and fought hard at home against Davidson. If UMass were to face Richmond in the final, a team that squashed the Minutewomen in Amherst by 30 points, then it would take everything the Minutewomen have to pull off the upset.
Still, the Minutewomen have a great shot at becoming A-10 champions. They have 10 blowout wins of 15 or more points this season. Olbrys, McKayle and Palmieri are all top-20 in points per game in the A-10. The Minutewomen forced the fourth most turnovers as a team in the conference. Most importantly, this is a team that wants to play for the jersey.
Last year entering the conference tournament, Leflar urged his team to play with respect and pride, to represent the jersey each player wears. Leflar might be relaying that same message to his team because, in the conference tournament, anything can happen. It doesn’t matter who you play, or what your record or seed is, any given team can win at any time.
For a team that many thought would finish at the bottom of the conference, and let alone win 10 conference games, UMass can show they mean business by winning it all. UMass will play tenth seeded Saint Louis on Thursday, March 6 at 5 p.m.
