RICHMOND, VA-- At halftime of Thursday evening’s Atlantic 10 Championship second round, Massachusetts senior forward Sam Breen approached her teammate, co-captain Destiney Philoxy with a simple question.
“Where are my charges at,” Breen asked.
Philoxy answered that question in overtime, drawing two charges which helped seventh-seeded Massachusetts defeat 10th-seeded Saint Joseph’s 79-69 at VCU’s Siegel Center in the Atlantic 10 Championship Second Round.
“It changed a lot,” Philoxy said. “Once I saw (Katie Jekot), she wanted to give the team energy, and she made the shot to get to overtime, so I know she wanted to keep doing what she was doing. I just wanted to draw some charges on her. After I drew the charges, they laughed and picked me up. It’s just great energy, so why not give my team good energy right now?”
Sydney Taylor led all scorers with her 21 points, while Philoxy added 17 points and seven assists. Ber’Nyah Mayo contributed 13 points. Sam Breen added her 13th double-double of the season and fifth in-a-row with her 12 points and 13 rebounds.
“It was a great basketball game and I’m really proud of my team, and its effort” UMass coach Tori Verdi said. “The game could have gone in so many different directions, but I thought that we were tough and resilient. I am really proud of our players sticking together and outworking Saint Joseph’s down the stretch to come out with a win.”
Kaliah Henderson set a new career-high with 20 points and her 10 rebounds not only gave her a double-double but were one off another personal best. Jekot added 13 points, Alayna Gribble swished 12 points and Alexis Santarelli successfully helped Saint Joseph’s cause with 11 points of her own.
“I’m really proud of the way our kids fought today,” Saint Joseph’s coach Cindy Griffin said. “It was a great testament to the resilience of this team. A lot of lead changes, a lot of different ebbs and flows. I thought Kahliah came on strong and obviously Jekot’s three at the end of regulation was huge. We got a lot of production from a lot of different players today. For that, I was grateful. What it came down to in the overtime was they made plays and we didn’t. We turned the ball over way too many times and it’s a shame because I think if we took care of the ball, we would have been able to pull it out.”
UMass opened the contest scoring five of the first seven points as Destiney Philoxy nailed a three-point shot and Ber’Nyah Mayo stole the basketball and in transition converted a layup.
Saint Joseph’s responded with an 8-4 run culminating in an Alexis Santerelli jumper placing the Hawks in front by a single point.
Up three late in the first quarter, it appeared that the Minutewomen were starting to find some momentum in the contest, however Hawks guard Gribble beat the buzzer with a 3-point basket, tying the game after 10 minutes of play.
Saint Joseph’s continued this momentum leading by three points early on in the second quarter and for much of the quarter, both teams were separated by one possession.
When UMass’s Angelique Ngalakulondi made a layup, cutting the deficit to one point, Saint Joseph’s responded going on a 6-0 run.
Though the Minutewomen converted a free throw with less than a minute remaining in the first half, it was the Hawks in front by six points.
UMass shot 33.3% from the field in the first half.
Down by eight points in the third quarter, Massachusetts responded with a 14-4 run with Breen converting a three-point shot, placing it back in front by two points.
Saint Joseph’s scored five of the next seven points and led by one before UMass countered with the quarter’s final run.
It was a 7-0 streak which allowed the Minutewomen to create some separation, though Henderson recorded the Hawk’s second buzzer-beater of the evening, bringing the score to within four points.
Saint Joseph’s found itself down by five points in the fourth quarter, but a timely 6-0 run placed it back on top.
There would be a response, namely an 8-0 run ending with Philoxy diving on the floor to find Taylor for an open three-point basket, placing UMass in front by five points with a minute remaining in regulation.
It was clear that as the Minutewomen jogged back into its defensive formation, that there were smiles, it was having fun.
“[Fun] is very important, but it starts in practice,” UMass’s Ber’Nyah Mayo said. “Going against each other in practice, we make each other better every day, with the passes and being creative. When we got on the court and actually playing with each other, it makes it even more fun.”
Saint Joseph’s refused to give up and found itself down by three with eight seconds remaining. It was then that Jekot launched a 40-foot three-point shot which found nothing but net, setting up overtime.
“We knew it was going in,” Saint Joseph’s Kaliah Henderson said. “She’s a bucket. She’s clutch. When you need shots, she’s going to give it to you.”
In the overtime period, UMass shot 57.1% and held Saint Joseph’s scoreless for the final 2:38, as it converted one shot from the field.
“We faced some adversity, but we were able to bounce back and make it happen,” said Verdi.
UMass now advances to take on second-seeded Fordham in the third of four Atlantic 10 Championship quarterfinal contests, held Friday at 5 p.m. on ESPN+.
“Where we are if you lose you go home, that’s what happens,” said Verdi. “I expect our players to be super excited for tomorrow’s game. It’s been a long time since we’ve beaten Fordham and even longer when we’ve beaten them back-to-back. We know we’re going to get Fordham’s best and we have to take it one possession at a time and stick together.”