AMHERST — It seemed like the only name the Mullins Center announcer said Wednesday afternoon was Sam Breen’s.
The junior forward went on a second-half tear, scoring 19 of her 26 points in leading the UMass women’s basketball team to a 64-50 victory over Richmond, snapping a three-game losing streak for the Minutewomen in front of 3,664 on Field Trip Day.
“We definitely needed that one,” Breen said. “The momentum is back in our favor and that’s going to carry over the next couple of games.”
UMass led 29-23 at halftime, but Richmond recovered and pulled within one.
Breen scored inside to push the lead to three, but Kate Klimkiewicz tied it at 31 with a 3-pointer with 7 minutes, 23 seconds left.
Breen, though, answered with a 3 to start an 11-0 UMass run. She scored 11 of UMass’ 18 points in the third quarter as the Minutewomen took a 47-40 lead into the fourth.
Breen added eight more points in the fourth as UMass pulled away.
“We continued to defend at half court and execute offensively. Obviously, the point production from Sam Breen, especially in the second half, propelled us to this point today,” UMass coach Tory Verdi said. “There’s always a concerted effort to get Sam the ball.”
The Minutewomen’s defense smothered the Spiders, who shot 19 of 51 (37.3 percent) for the game. UMass held Richmond’s best scorer, Jaide Hinds-Clarke, to eight points on 4 of 10 shooting.
“Defensively, I thought Maeve Donnelly did a great job just clogging up the paint area and post defense,” Verdi said. “Maeve did an unbelievable job on Hinds-Clarke. That kid, to me, is an all-conference player and for a freshman to do what she did here today is pretty special.”
UMass senior Hailey Leidel made program history in the win. With her third 3-pointer of the game, she became the first player to have over 1,700 points, 600 rebounds and 200 assists.
“It’s surreal,” Leidel said. “Coming in as a freshman, that’s not a goal you set for yourself. I’m happy to do it with this group, and it’s a really nice experience. It’s something I’ll never forget.”
The Minutewomen started slow and trailed 9-4 with 4:48 left in the first. UMass picked up its defense and turned stops into good looks on offense. Leidel and Breen hit back-to-back 3s to give UMass a 14-12 lead. A tough finish in the paint from Paige McCormick capped a 12-5 run and gave the Minutewomen a 16-14 edge at the end of the first quarter.
The Minutewomen opened the second quarter with an 8-0 run, capped by a Vashnie Perry 3 that gave UMass a 24-16 lead. However, the Spiders responded with a 7-0 run of their own to pull within 24-23.
The Minutewomen, though, used a Breen layup and a Leidel 3 to stretch the lead to 29-23, while the UMass defense held the Spiders scoreless for the final 3:44 of the half.
The Minutewomen (15-6, 5-3 Atlantic 10) will be on the road against Davidson on Sunday.
“We just want to win the day,” Verdi said. “We just want to get a little bit better and hopefully this momentum will carry us. We expect a great fight at Davidson.”