UMass Minutewomen preparing for Atlantic 10 tournament

AMHERST, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - The UMass women’s basketball team has had another great season and one filled with some historic milestones. Now, the Minutewomen are looking to win their second consecutive conference title.

It has been one incredible ride for the UMass Amherst women’s basketball team and its head coach, Tory Verdi. After coming off last season with its first-ever Atlantic 10 conference title and making its first NCAA tournament in 24 years, they have picked up where they left off.

“I think that we’ve done a really good job of going out and recruiting really good character kids. Players who want to be successful, who are competitive, and I think they’ve represented us really well, both on the court and in the classroom,” Verdi said.

The team is currently 24-5 and with 14 conference wins, they’re tied with University of Rhode Island for the regular season title and are currently the number one seed in this week’s A-10 conference tournament. Western Mass News spoke with Verdi on Monday, who said it is business as usual for the team as they await who they will face next.

“We’re not going to do anything different. We’re going to prepare the way we normally prepare and I know that our team will be super excited to play…We’ll go out there and give it our best shot, but nothing’s guaranteed,” Verdi added.

This season has also featured some personal accolades. In the team’s last game of the regular season, not only did Verdi win his 200th game as a collegiate head coach, but graduate student Sam Breen became the program’s all-time points leader and is currently 95 points shy of 2,000 points for her career.

“She’s our hardest worker each and every single day. In practice, she’s the most consistent. That’s how she lives her life and so to me, there’s no surprise here that she’s the A-10 Player of the Year. She should get it this year as well,” Verdi explained.

Verdi told us he is proud of all his players, no matter how the season ends.

“This has been an unbelievable journey. I’m just super proud of them and how they handled themselves each and every single day…I love them. We’ve done something special here and I expect us to continue to do special things,” Verdi noted.

The Minutewomen will travel to Wilmington, DE on Wednesday before taking on either George Mason or La Salle at 11:00 a.m. Friday.