WILMINGTON, Del. – Massachusetts head coach Tory Verdi utilizes a visual element to describe the random manner in which a shot can ricochet off the rim, and even though both A-10 Player of the Year Sam Breen and teammate Makennah White attempted to explain the concept, the seventh-year program leader was unable to restrain himself from jumping in on the mic.
“It’s a rebounding lid, and yes there are bubbles on it,” Verdi corrected. “So when you shoot the ball, it hits the 'lid' and bounces off. Obviously that creates an opportunity for your players to compete for that rebound, which they love as you can see.”
Saturday afternoon, the Minutewomen displayed their dedication to their head coach's conceptual designs, pulling down 35 rebounds and holding Richmond to just two offensive boards on the game, launching No. 1 overall UMass to the program's third consecutive Atlantic 10 Championship final behind an 80-60 victory over the fifth-seeded Spiders at CHASE Fieldhouse.
Massachusetts was led by All-Defensive Team member Destiney Philoxy and her 16 points while Breen recorded her 17th double-double of the season, notching 14 points with 12 rebounds. White tacked on 14 points, eight of which came in the third quarter, while grabbing seven boards. Ber’Nyah Mayo also got into the scoring act with 13 points of her own.
“We came out and we had purpose here today,” Verdi said. “At halftime I told my team that I thought we were playing together, I thought we were connected. Today was just a balanced attack, I’m super proud of the way we executed on both sides of the ball. It’s really hard to get this far.”
Richmond All-Conference second team choice Addie Budnik paced the Spiders with 25 points while freshman Rachel Ullstrom scored all 10 of her points in the first half.
“They said nothing ends well, otherwise it would never end,” Richmond head coach Aaron Roussell said. “I think we can take some solace in that we’ve come a long way as a program. It’s a good building block for the future and the future is very bright. I hope we are not done with the season but this was a tough loss.”
UMass struck first with a 14-4 run as Richmond struggled to generate offense following a make on the team’s opening possession.
The Minutewomen found the inside of the net on four of five possessions to break through, but UR would finally find some steadiness entering the second quarter, entering the period down just eight.
The Spiders proceeded to open up a 12-3 run, taking the lead late on a Grace Townsend-to-Ullstrom bucket following a steal.
Richmond secured two separate three-point leads during the second quarter, but the Minutewomen found equalizers on both occasions before White sent UMass back in front by a pair at halftime, 32-30.
The back-to-back end-of-half baskets for UMass turned into a 13-4 run to start the third period.
“We have a couple of plays where that’s the main look, and I think we realized that they were hedging on (White),” Breen said. “Knowing that was going to be wide open, it was making sure I got it to her.”
The Minutewomen continued to keep up their offensive pace heading into the final quarter as Stefanie Kulesza hit on a three-point attempt, notably extending the lead to double-digit margin that would not falter.
“He gives us confidence every day,” White said of Verdi. “My confidence was at an all-time high. He told me ‘they can’t guard you’ so when you hear that from your teammates and also your coaching staff, of course I’m going to go to the basket, and that’s what I did.”