UMass basketball: Minutewomen drop A-10 opener at VCU, 65-45

Atlantic 10 Conference play began for the UMass women’s basketball team on Saturday afternoon, as the Minutewomen traveled to Richmond, Va. to take on VCU in the conference opener.

UMass hung around for as long as it could – only trailing by six points at halftime – but eventually fell 65-45 to the Rams in first-year head coach Mike Leflar’s first taste of A-10 basketball.

Four different VCU players (Timaya Lewis-Eutsey, Sarah Te-Biasu, Mary-Anna Asare, and Jennifer Ezeh) recorded double-digit points, and another (Mykel Parham) added nine points and 11 rebounds to pace the Rams, which improved to 12-1 this season (1-0 in the league).

For the Minutewomen, Tori Hyduke, Stefanie Kulesza, and Kristin Williams each netted eight points, while Bre Bellamy chipped in seven points in the loss. Kulesza tallied a team-high six boards as well as one block and one steal. UMass shot 3-for-18 from 3-point range and 32.6 percent from the field overall.

VCU doubled UMass’ points in the paint total (32-16), and had advantages in both bench points (24-16) and fast-break points (11-5). The Rams showed signs of the strong one-loss team they are in the second half, outscoring the Minutewomen 32-18 – including 19-8 in the third quarter.

UMass (2-11, 0-1 A-10) returns home to host Dayton (6-6) on Tuesday at 5 p.m. as conference play kicks into full swing.