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Sports

Xavier's inside play leads to rout of UMass

Associated Press
Published | Updated

AMHERST, Mass. – With Amber Harris and Ta'Shia Phillips controlling the lane, No. 8 Xavier didn't give Massachusetts much of a chance.

Harris had 19 points, 18 rebounds, two blocked shots and four steals, while Phillips scored 15 points and 15 rebounds in an easy 77-46 win over for the eighth-ranked Musketeers on Sunday.

Xavier (14-2, 3-0 Atlantic 10) outrebounded UMass 63-33, including turning 26 offensive boards into 27 second-chance points.

"Our energy on the glass was terrific and that certainly played a big part in this game," Xavier coach Kevin McGuff said. "That's a big part of our identity so that's what we expect of our team. They play so well together. When they're playing like they did today on the glass they feed off each other."

UMass coach Sharon Dawley saluted their effort.

"That size is just remarkable having those two bigs on the floor at the same time," Dawley said. "It's unbelievable, how good they are, how strong they are, how athletic they are."

Cerie Mosgrove led UMass (5-13, 1-2 Atlantic 10). with 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Jasmine Watson added 15 points and five blocked shots.

UMass led 10-7 early, but Xavier scored 14 straight points to take control of the game. The Musketeers scored the last five points of the first half to take a 42-27 halftime lead and a the first 11 of the second to end any suspense.

"When we were good today we were really good, but we have to play more toward 40 minutes than we have been," said McGuff, who said his team let down some as its lead expanded. "If we're going to be the team we're capable of being we can't play to the scoreboard."

Mosgrove's 3-point shooting kept the Minutewomen in the game early. She had four of UMass' five first-half 3-pointers. But once the outside shots stopped falling the Minutewomen struggled to find offense.

"They got some good shots and made them in the first half and that put them in position to make it a good game in the first half, but once those shots quit falling it took a little bit of the energy away from them," McGuff said.