AMHERST – Though the Minutewomen’s Atlantic 10 Conference opener was nearly a week after Christmas, Sam Breen was still in a giving mood on Saturday afternoon.
Breen dished out a career-high 11 assists to go with 11 points and 14 rebounds in a historic performance against Saint Bonaventure, securing her first career triple-double and the program’s first triple-double since 2000, when Jennifer Butler hit the milestone.
The feat didn’t shock UMass women’s basketball head coach Tory Verdi – he’s had a front row seat to Breen’s talents for years now. What surprised him was just how good of a passer Breen has become.
“I can’t believe that Sam had 11 assists on the day. I just told our team I never knew that that was possible. I didn’t know she knew how to pass the ball,” Verdi said with a grin. “But I’m super proud of her.”
Last year, Breen was known more for her scoring touch anywhere on the floor than her passing ability. But this year, she’s shown to be a more versatile player than that, hitting the double-digit threshold in assists before she did rebounds and points.
“Having the assists already is not really the thing that I usually have in double figures, so that was kind of shocking,” Breen said. “Coach Verdi says all the time that I’m not a facilitator, but I think I showed tonight that I can be.”
Breen’s triple-double was the cherry on top of a 74-51 victory at the Mullins Center over the Bonnies to give UMass its first win in conference play. It wasn’t just her that played lights out – five UMass players hit double digits in scoring, with Sydney Taylor (16), Makennah White (13), Destiney Philoxy (11) and Ber’Nyah Mayo (11) also lighting up the scoreboard.
“What I was really impressed with tonight was the fact that we had five players in double-digit scoring. We shared the basketball,” Verdi said. “We don’t need to rely on one person, and that’s the beauty of this all. When we win, we win because of how we play, and we’re going to continue to get better. We’re going to continue to play as a team, and that’s what it takes.”
It wasn’t easy – St. Bonaventure went on a couple of runs to make things interesting. The visitors finished the first quarter with a 15-6 streak that gave them a 17-14 lead after the opening quarter, and they went on an 11-0 run in the third frame to pull back within six points. But after the first quarter, the Bonnies never really had a chance. Whether it was one of Mayo’s five steals leading to a fast break, Taylor hitting one of her signature threes, or White getting physical and finishing in the paint, the Minutewomen came at them in waves, keeping the visitors on their heels.
But despite the group effort, the highlight was Breen. The reigning A-10 Player of the Year has faced a lot of obstacles this year – while teams knew of her talent last year, she now has a spotlight firmly pointed at her, and teams are throwing their best defenses at her to keep her off the board. As a result, she’s had to get creative on the floor, but while she’s not scoring quite as much as she did last year, she continues to be an impact player for UMass (11-3, 1-0).
“She’s just so unselfish. She doesn’t care how many points she scores, she doesn’t as long as we win. Her character is unreal,” Verdi said. “She understands she’s going to get double teamed. We run stuff so that teams can double team her, so she can drop off passes and we can take advantage of teams double-teaming her. She’s gonna make the right play and the most important thing to her is our team… that’s who she’s always been.”
UMass will host Rhode Island on Wednesday at 5 p.m. as it looks to extend a three-game winning streak.