The final buzzer rang through the Mullins Center and the Massachusetts women’s basketball team sprang off the bench onto the court to celebrate its 65-64 win over Miami (OH).
There were just under five seconds on the clock when head coach Mike Leflar called a timeout. Coming back onto the court, Ayanna Franks made the inbounding pass at half court. Yahmani McKayle received the ball and passed back to Franks, who passed to Megan Olbrys inside the paint. The senior captain went up for the layup to seal the deal and bring down the undefeated Mid-American Conference leaders.
“The execution, just keeping your cool with 4.8 [seconds] to go, not getting down and just staying in the moment,” Leflar said. “[The play was] something we drew up on the white board and then executed … that was great, we’ve been practicing that.”
In the fourth quarter alone on Saturday, the lead changed five times. However, the Minutewomen (18-5, 10-2 MAC) stayed calm and didn’t let the pressure get the better of them.
After the RedHawks’ (20-5, 11-1 MAC) Tamar Singer made two free throws, Allie Palmieri made a jump shot on the next possession. The scoreline was within one, sitting at 61-60.
Nearly a minute later, UMass took back its lead. Fifty-six seconds were left in the contest when Leflar called a timeout. Coming back onto the court, Chinenye Odenigbo made a jumper inside with an assist from Palmieri.
The Minutewomen then went ahead by two after Nuria Jurjo fouled Palmieri and the graduate student made one of her two free throw attempts.
The scoreline was at 63 a piece with about four seconds left after Amber Tretter made a layup in the paint. Going for the basket, she was fouled and made the one free throw attempt awarded for Miami (OH) to then go ahead by one.
“[Our players have] enough playing experience out there that they have to keep understanding it’s one possession at a time,” Leflar said. “There’s no five-point plays, there’s no 10-point play, it’s like ‘Keep grinding’.”
At the end of every quarter except the third, the Minutewomen were in the lead. At halftime, they were ahead 23-18 but ended the third down 43-40. For many games this season, the third quarter has become UMass’ deciding factor and on Saturday, it stayed steady thanks to McKayle settling in.
Going scoreless throughout the first half, the sophomore’s first basket came with 8:37 left in the quarter. Olbrys was inside and found the 5-foot-6 guard outside, where McKayle made the jump shot to put the Minutewomen up by nine.
The 5-foot-6 guard’s second basket was made with six and a half minutes remaining in the third. As the shot clock was running down, she received a pass from Lilly Ferguson, making the jump shot as the buzzer rang out through the Mullins Center.
The Queens, N.Y. native ended the day with 12 points, five rebounds and an assist but found herself in foul trouble, committing four on the afternoon.
Odenigbo also shined for UMass, tying her career-high in points with 14. She made three rebounds and had a steal to close out the first half. Olbrys finished with 12 points and six rebounds in 39 minutes of play.
The fourth Minutewoman in double digits Saturday was none other than Palmieri. The Trumbull, Conn. native put up a team-leading 15 points while making five rebounds and providing two assists.
With a balanced offense, UMass showed its potential for March basketball and will likely continue to perform in the lead-up to the MAC Tournament.
The Minutewomen will remain at home to host Toledo on Feb. 18. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+.
Emma Bensley can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @emmabensley4.
