The Massachusetts women’s basketball team capitulated in the fourth quarter, losing to Buffalo 84-82 in overtime in the second round of the WNIT on Sunday afternoon.
Going into the fourth quarter, UMass had the momentum on their side, after a dominant third quarter. UMass outscored Buffalo 28-14 in the third, with Stefanie Kulesza being the vocal point for the Minutewomen.
Kulesza started the third quarter, making an and-one that gave UMass a two-point lead. After Buffalo took a small one-point lead, UMass went on a 13-4 run to take a 10-point lead, with Yahmani McKayle making two threes during that stretch.
UMass led by 14 points entering the fourth quarter, and it extended to 16 points around the eight-minute mark of the fourth. With such a comfortable lead, the Minutewomen may have played to relax as Buffalo responded emphatically. The Bulls pressured UMass into traps that saw the Minutewomen commit careless turnovers. Chellia Watson made a layup off a UMass turnover to bring the lead down to six with five minutes to go. Watson would go on to get the lead down to one making a jumper and three.
During Buffalo’s 10-0 run to cut UMas’ lead, they forced the Minutewomen to turn the ball over in seven straight possessions. This coincided with UMass being held scoreless for four minutes, with Palmieri ending the drought with a three. UMass unraveled quickly and their 16-point lead went away with free throws from Lani Cornfield.
Kulesza would foul out twenty seconds later after Cornfield gave the Bulls a one-point lead. Buffalo extended the lead to three, but Palmieri responded with a three to tie the game at 72. Palmieri scored again to take the game to overtime, tied up at 74.
Neither team could take control of the game in overtime, both going through stretches of missing shots, and the only points were from the free throw line. Lilly Ferguson gave UMass the lead at the line, however Sitota Gines tied the game at 82 with a three. Ariana Seawell sealed the game for Buffalo with a layup. UMass had a chance to tie or win the game with 18 seconds left. McKayle had the ball stolen from her by Gines. The turnover sealed Buffalo’s moving onto the Super 16.
Watson, a big reason for the Bulls winning this game had 26 points on 11-19 shooting with four rebounds. Cornfield led the team in assists with 15 and scored 12 points. Kirsten Lewis-Williams was efficient in the first half for Buffalo, scoring 10 of her 12 points in that half. She led the teams with five steals and the Bulls still prevailed with Lewis-Williams fouling out in the fourth.
Kulesza was the catalyst for the UMass offense in this game. In her last game as a Minutewomen, she had 18 points shooting 7-of-11 from the field and 3-of-6 from three, along with five steals. McKayle led the in points with 19 shooting 6-of-12 and 3-of-5 from deep. Megan Olbrys had a double-double, scoring 11 points, grabbing 13 rebounds, and reaching eight assists. Palmieri picked up the scoring with Kulesza out of the game scoring 12 points, shooting 5-of-16 from the field and 2-of-10 from three.
UMass squandered a big chance to move on in the WNIT. Turnovers are the biggest reason why they lost to Buffalo. UMass’ season began with turning the ball over 34 times against Harvard, and it ended with them turning the ball over 28 times against Buffalo. 12 of those 28 turnovers came in their disastrous fourth quarter. Additionally, Buffalo came up with 17 steals, while UMass had 10.
Foul trouble was a factor in why UMass lost to Saint Louis in the A-10 tournament, and it played a factor against the Bulls. Kulesza picked up her fourth foul with 14 minutes to go in the game. Olbrys played with four fouls in the fourth and eventually fouled out in overtime. Chinenye Odenigbo was also in foul trouble and fouled out in overtime as well. Without Odenigbo and Olbrys out there, the Minutewomen’s paint defense suffered. Usually, UMass dominates the paint, but they lost the battle with Buffalo winning 56 to 34.
The second year of Mike Leflar’s tenure has officially ended. Leflar’s first year was a year of growing pains, where UMass only won five games. A year later, UMass won 17 games, exceeded expectations, and soared to a first-round bye in the A-10 tournament. For a team that had a lot of questions, Leflar was able to find the answers to them. Along the way came an invitation to the WNIT for UMass to show they had a lot more basketball to play. While the result did not go their way, there is a lot to be excited about for the future of Minutewomen basketball.
