2021–22 UMass Minutewomen basketball team

2021–22 UMass Minutewomen basketball
2021–22 UMass Minutewomen basketball
A10 Tournament Champions
NCAA tournament, first round
Conference	Atlantic 10 Conference
Record	26–7 (11–4 A-10)
Head coach	Tory Verdi (6th season);
Assistant coaches	Mike LeFlar; Lynne-Ann Kokoski; Cassandra Callaway;
Home arena	Mullins Center
	Seasons ← 2020–21 2022–23 →

2021–22 Atlantic 10 women's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Dayton	14	–	1	.933	25	–	6	.806
Rhode Island	12	–	2	.857	22	–	7	.759
UMass †	11	–	4	.733	26	–	7	.788
VCU	9	–	5	.643	16	–	12	.571
La Salle	9	–	6	.600	16	–	12	.571
Fordham	8	–	6	.571	18	–	11	.621
Saint Joseph's	7	–	8	.467	13	–	17	.433
Richmond	7	–	9	.438	16	–	14	.533
Davidson	6	–	10	.375	18	–	15	.545
Duquesne	6	–	10	.375	11	–	18	.379
Saint Louis	5	–	9	.357	9	–	18	.333
George Washington	4	–	11	.267	13	–	18	.419
St. Bonaventure	4	–	12	.250	12	–	16	.429
George Mason	3	–	12	.200	10	–	19	.345


† 2022 A10 Tournament winner

The 2021–22 UMass Minutewomen basketball team represented the University of Massachusetts Amherst during the 2021–22 college basketball season. The Minutewomen, led by sixth-year head coach Tory Verdi, were members of the Atlantic 10 Conference and played their home games at the Mullins Center.

They finished the season 26–7 overall, and 11–4 in A-10 play to finish in third place. As the third seed in the A-10 Tournament they received a bye into the Quarterfinals where they defeated Fordham. They went on to defeat Saint Joseph's in the Semifinals and first seed Dayton in the Final to win the tournament. As a result, the Minutewomen received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they were the twelfth seed in the Bridgeport Region. They lost in the first round to Notre Dame to end their season.

Previous Season[edit]

The Minutewomen finished the season 16–8 overall, and 7–5 in A-10 play to finish in seventh place. As the seventh seed in the A-10 Tournament they received a bye into the Second Round where they defeated Saint Joseph's in overtime. They would go on to lose to Fordham in the Quarterfinals. They received an at-large bid to the WNIT. In the Charlotte regional, they lost in the First Round to Villanova, but won both consolation games versus Charlotte and Ohio.

Roster[edit]

2021–22 UMass Minutewomen women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	1	Sydney Taylor	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	Jr	St. Anthony's	Huntington Station, NY
G	2	Alexzeya Brooks	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	Fr	Westtown School	Endicott, NY
G	3	Destiney Philoxy	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	Sr	South Shore	Queens, NY
F	5	Makennah White	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	So	West Middlesex	Farrell, PA
G	11	Damoni Tucker	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)	Fr	South Shore	New York, NY
C	15	Natousha Harden	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	Fr	Springfield Commonwealth	New London, CT
F	21	Aisha Dabo	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	Fr	Forsyth Central	Cumming, GA
G	22	Shavonne Smith	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	Sr	Pemberton Township	Pemberton, NJ
G	23	Ber'nyah Mayo	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)	So	St. Elizabeth	Wilmington, DE
F	30	Angelique Ngalakulondi	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Jr	Proctor Academy	Manchester, NH
F	33	Michelle Pruitt	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	GS	Homewood-Flossmoor UTEP	Chicago, IL
F	34	Sam Breen	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	GS	North Catholic Penn State	Gibsonia, PA
G	44	Stefanie Kulesza	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	Fr	Conrad Schools of Science	Wilmington, DE

Head coach

Tory Verdi (Keene State)

Assistant coach(es)

Mike LeFlar (Boston College)
Lynne-Ann Kokoski (Bryant)
Cassandra Callaway (Albany)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: June 8, 2022

Schedule[edit]

Source:^[1]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
November 1, 2021* 7:00 p.m.		Saint Rose	W 95–54	–	Mullins Center Amherst, MA
Non-Conference Regular season
November 9, 2021* 5:00 p.m., NESN+		Central Connecticut State	W 87–50	1–0	Mullins Center (356) Amherst, MA
November 12, 2021* 5:00 p.m., NESN		Harvard	W 80–71	2–0	Mullins Center (720) Amherst, MA
November 16, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Iona	W 79–56	3–0	Mullins Center (612) Amherst, MA
November 19, 2021* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Holy Cross	W 61–58	4–0	Hart Center (673) Worcester, MA
November 23, 2021* 4:00 p.m., FloHoops		at Providence	W 80–62	5–0	Alumni Hall (225) Providence, RI
November 26, 2021* 11:00 a.m., FloHoops		vs. South Dakota State Gulf Coast Showcase	W 81–63	6–0	Hertz Arena (143) Estero, FL
November 27, 2021* 5:00 p.m., FloHoops		vs. Kent State Gulf Coast Showcase	W 72–64	7–0	Hertz Arena (187) Estero, FL
November 28, 2021* 7:30 p.m., FloHoops		vs. No. 13 Iowa State Gulf Coast Showcase	L 71–76	7–1	Hertz Arena (200) Estero, FL
December 1, 2021* 7:00 p.m., NESN		Fairfield	W 74–61	8–1	Mullins Center (407) Amherst, MA
December 5, 2021* Noon, NESN		UMass Lowell	W 58–53	9–1	Mullins Center (537) Amherst, MA
December 8, 2021* 7:00 p.m., NESN+		Boston College	L 60–66	9–2	Mullins Center (958) Amherst, MA
December 11, 2021* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Columbia	W 87–75	10–2	Levien Gymnasium (676) New York, NY
December 19, 2021* 3:30 p.m., ESPN+		Vermont	W 68–63	11–2	Mullins Center (1,739) Amherst, MA
December 22, 2021* Noon, ESPN+		at Hartford	W 86–40	12–2	Chase Arena (204) Hartford, CT
A-10 Regular season
January 9, 2022 2:00 p.m., NESN+		La Salle	Cancelled		Mullins Center Amherst, MA
January 12, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at VCU	W 72–60	13–2 (1–0)	Siegel Center (323) Richmond, VA
January 15, 2022 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Richmond	W 73–72 ^OT	14–2 (2–0)	Robins Center (450) Richmond, VA
January 17, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Rhode Island	L 58–66	14–3 (2–1)	Ryan Center (498) Kingston, RI
January 19, 2022 7:00 p.m., NESN+		Dayton	L 60–69	14–4 (2–2)	Mullins Center (632) Amherst, MA
January 22, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		at George Washington	W 68–41	15–4 (3–2)	Smith Center Washington, D.C.
January 26, 2022 7:00 p.m., NESN+		Rhode Island	L 46–60	15–5 (3–3)	Mullins Center (1,374) Amherst, MA
January 29, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Saint Joseph's	W 74–48	16–5 (4–3)	Hagan Arena (202) Philadelphia, PA
February 5, 2022 Noon, NESN		Saint Louis	W 69–66	17–5 (5–3)	Mullins Center (765) Amherst, MA
February 9, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at St. Bonaventure	W 78–59	18–5 (6–3)	Reilly Center (252) Olean, NY
February 11, 2022 Noon, NESN		George Mason	W 87–58	19–5 (7–3)	Mullins Center (550) Amherst, MA
February 13, 2022 Noon, CBSSN		Duquesne	W 89–59	20–5 (8–3)	Mullins Center (762) Amherst, MA
February 16, 2022 7:00 p.m., NESN+		Fordham	W 60–57	21–5 (9–3)	Mullins Center (692) Amherst, MA
February 20, 2022 Noon, CBSSN		at Davidson	L 67–76	21–6 (9–4)	John M. Belk Arena (626) Davidson, NC
February 23, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		VCU	W 66–57	22–6 (10–4)	Mullins Center (1,161) Amherst, MA
February 26, 2022 8:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Saint Louis	W 74–62	23–6 (11–4)	Chaifetz Arena (1,102) St. Louis, MO
Atlantic 10 Tournament
March 4, 2022 7:30 p.m., ESPN+	(3)	vs. (6) Fordham Quarterfinals	W 66–63	24–6	Chase Fieldhouse (1,148) Wilmington, DE
March 5, 2022 1:30 p.m., CBSSN	(3)	vs. (7) Saint Joseph's Semifinals	W 76–58	25–6	Chase Fieldhouse (2,012) Wilmington, DE
March 6, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN2	(3)	vs. (1) Dayton Final	W 62–56	26–6	Chase Fieldhouse (2,228) Wilmington, DE
NCAA tournament
March 19, 2022 7:30 p.m., ESPN2	(12 B)	vs. (5 B) No. 21 Notre Dame First Round	L 78–89	26–7	Lloyd Noble Center Norman, OK
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. B=Bridgeport. All times are in Eastern Time.

Rankings[edit]

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Final
AP	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Coaches	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	RV	RV	RV	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	RV	—

**Legend**
		Increase in ranking
		Decrease in ranking
		Not ranked previous week
(RV)		Received Votes
(NR)		Not Ranked and Did not receive votes

The Coaches Poll did not release a Week 2 poll and the AP Poll did not release a poll after the NCAA Tournament.

References[edit]

^ "2021-22 Women's Basketball Schedule". University of Massachusetts Athletics. Retrieved June 8, 2022.

[1] "2021-22 Women's Basketball Schedule". University of Massachusetts Athletics. Retrieved June 8, 2022.

[1]

v t e UMass Minutewomen basketball
Venues	Curry Hicks Cage (1968–1993) William D. Mullins Memorial Center (1993–present)
Rivalries	Boston College
Culture & lore	Sam the Minuteman "Fight Mass"
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24