On Friday, the UMass Minutewomen (27-6, 14-2 A-10) defeated the UAlbany Great Danes (22-12, 14-2 America East) 73-48. UMass gets their first win in the WNIT this season, advances to the round of 32, and faces Harvard on Monday, March 20th at 7pm in the Mullins Center.
Angelique Ngalakulondi dominated the boards both offensively and defensively and set a new career-high with 15 rebounds. Ngalakulondi also added 17 points to go with her 15 rebounds to earn a double-double which was her fourth double-double on the season, and ninth in her career. Sam Breen also joined Ngalakulondi with a double-double in the game with 16 points and 11 rebounds, making it her 19th double-double on the season, and her 59th in her career. Sydney Taylor led the way for Minutewomen in scoring with 19 points and Makennah White had 12 points rounding out the players scoring in double digits. The Minutewomen successfully held former player Grace Heeps to no points.
With the win on Friday against UAlbany, the Minutewomen have now broken the record for the most wins in a season in the program history for the second consecutive season. The Minutewomen want to keep playing for every moment that they can, knowing that it could be the last game for Breen and Destiney Philoxy who are in their final year of eligibility. Last season, the Minutewomen set the record with 26 wins, and with the win on Friday when it surpassed the 26 wins to 27 wins.
UMass will now face the Harvard Crimson (18-11, 9-5 Ivy League) on Monday, March 20th in the Mullins Center. The last matchup between the two teams was on November 18th, 2022. UMass came out with the 77-67 win after the fourth-quarter effort which gave them the win at the end of the day. Taylor led the Minutewomen in scoring during that game with 23 points. Philoxy also had a double-double in that game with 10 points and 11 rebounds and was 3 assists shy of a triple-double, which would have happened before Sam Breen got hers later on in the season. The Minutewomen look to carry the momentum they have from Friday’s game into the game on Monday.
Photo Credits: Chris Tucci, UMass Athletics
