The UMass women’s basketball team isn’t messing around.

The Minutewomen used a fast start, storming out of the gates to an 18-4 lead, and cruised to their sixth straight victory on Sunday via an 83-61 win over Duquesne in an Atlantic 10 Conference tilt at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in Pittsburgh, Penn.

UMass improved to 17-4 overall, 7-1 in the Atlantic 10 with the victory. The team hasn’t lost since a 75-68 defeat to Rhode Island on Jan. 4.

The Minutewomen shot 12-for-26 from the 3-point line, and held a dominant 46-33 edge in the rebounding department (including 17 offensive boards). UMass dished out 23 assists as a team.

“I thought our performance in the first period was remarkable,” UMass head coach Tory Verdi said. “I just thought that ultimately we did a great job on both sides of the ball.”

Sydney Taylor paced the offensive attack with 20 points, drilling 6 of 11 3-pointers, and pulled down nine rebounds. Makennah White came through with 14 points and nine boards, while Sam Breen (12 points, 8 rebounds) and Angelique Ngalakulondi (10 points) also scored in double figures. Destiney Philoxy had a standout all-around performance, scoring 7 points to go with a team-high six assists and six rebounds. Ber’Nyah Mayo tossed in nine points, five assists and four rebounds.

Duquesne (14-8, 4-5) had rallied from a 19-point deficit in its previous game, an 87-79 win over Dayton. There was  no such luck on Sunday.

UMass took a double-digit lead just 2 minutes, 30 seconds into the first quarter, and continued to extend its lead. Taylor’s 3-pointer just before the first quarter buzzer gave the Minutewomen a whopping 33-12 advantage after 10 minutes.

The lead was 49-25 at halftime, and grew to as much as 30 points when the visitors took a 70-40 lead.

Amaya Hamilton paced Duquesne with 15 points.

Next up for UMass is a home game Wednesday night when Richmond comes to the Mullins Center for a 7 p.m. start.

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