The Massachusetts Women’s basketball team demolished Stonehill 86-40 on Thursday night in the first round of the Women’s National Invitational Tournament.
After a disappointing end to the season where the Minutewomen lost to Saint Louis in the second round of the Atlantic-10 tournament, UMass had unfinished business and wanted a chance to prove themselves again. An invitation to the WNIT allowed them to make amends for their performance in the A-10 tournament.
It was a tough start for UMass missing a few easy layups and struggling to defend the perimeter. The Minutewomen got out to a small lead, but it was gone in a second after a 5-0 run by Stonehill. UMass was still struggling with scoring droughts early on. A three-minute scoring drought occurred during the Skyhawks run, that saw UMass shoot 0-of-5 from the field.
“A couple of early layups didn’t go in, but we didn’t hang our heads, we just kept working together,” head coach Mike Leflar said. “I’m really proud of us for stepping up, taking advantage of the opportunity, showing that we’re excited to play and excited for more basketball in front us … we were just not only the team that was more physical and bigger and stronger, but we were faster to the ball and asserted ourselves.”
After a timeout UMass went into a different level, ending the first on a 6-0 run, making three of their last four shots. This run set the tone for UMass’ scoring on the night. UMass started the second with a bucket from Stefanie Kulesza, followed by an and-one from Lilly Ferguson to push the lead to nine for the Minutewomen.
The points just kept on coming and coming for UMass leading to a 17-3 run with Megan Olbrys leading the charge getting to the free throw line. Olbrys led the team in points with 20 shooting 7-of-13 and going 6-of-8 from the line while securing nine rebounds.
UMass led by 16 going into halftime and continued to flash their dominance in the third quarter. The Minutewomen held the Skyhawks to eight points in the third, shooting 23 percent. While, UMass shot 14-of-22 from the field, shot 40 percent from three, and dominated with points in the paint and on fastbreaks. Freshman Yahmani McKayle played a big role in the third, becoming the playmaker. She had six of the nine assists in the third.
“[McKayle and Olbrys] were a big part [of the win] and have been all year,” Leflar said. “[McKayle] what can you say, awesome triple-double, the fact that their teammates knew it and were rooting her on there at the end that’s who we’ve been all year that type of group and really proud of her for that … [Olbrys] does what she does bringing the energy and her ability to score and rebound in the paint, so really well-balanced effort.”
It became a historic game for McKayle as she became the third player in UMass history to achieve a triple-double. McKayle had 14 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. McKayle joins the likes of Sam Breen and Jennifer Butler as the only players to achieve a triple-double at UMass, with McKayle being the only one to do it in her freshman year.
“I think that just shows how much this program leaves legacies,” McKayle said. “To be up there with [Breen and Butler] hopefully that would mean everything to me … UMass has become a home to me and is a home to me, and the fact that I did it here is what I’m most proud of.”
The 33-8 quarter in which the Minutewomen opened with a 13-0 run shows what UMass can be when they play to their best ability. The performance at the A-10 tournament was not a good representation of UMass Women’s basketball. While the Minutewomen could have packed their bags and begun looking towards next season, they did not do that and looked forward to playing more basketball. Leflar said he was kicking himself at the A-10 tournament because he thought the team didn’t play with enough desperation, in this game he got that.
“I think that stretch after [Stonehill] called their first timeout in the third quarter, we still went on like a 10 or 12 run right after the timeout because we were just getting a stop, and we were keeping things simple, but we were working really hard in transition out running them,” Leflar said.
Stonehill had no answer for UMass, and when there were possessions where the Minutewomen kept missing and getting their own rebounds, the Skyhawks had no answers. The 46-point victory is the largest UMass had this season and at one point, the Minutewomen led by 48.
UMass outrebounded the Skyhawks 62-20. UMass had 33 defensive rebounds and 29 offensive rebounds. They also forced 15 turnovers off them, scoring 20 points of those turnovers and UMass had 11 steals, which resulted in easy transition points.
UMass will now play Buffalo in the second round of the WNIT, an opponent they will see next year as they are both in the Mid-American Conference. The game is scheduled for Sunday, March 23 at 2 p.m. in Buffalo, New York.
