AMHERST – The UMass Minutewomen came into Wednesday’s matinee with plenty of Christmas cheer, with the coaching staff all decked out in ugly holiday sweaters.

Unfortunately the Albany Great Danes played Grinch to UMass, handing the Minutewomen a 74-52 loss in their last non-conference game of the season. The defeat moved UMass’ record to 2-10 while Albany improved to 10-2.

Though the Great Danes came into the contest as the favorites, UMass head coach Mike Leflar was more disappointed with his team’s repeated mental errors than anything else.

“Kudos to Albany, they were the better team today, I felt like in many possessions we beat ourselves, especially defensively and a few offensively,” Leflar said. “I feel like we have a lot to improve on it which is a good thing, because you should be able to improve quickly. But some of the things that we need to improve on I’ve addressed two or three different ways ... I think it’s just up to me and the staff to continue to show film and to find different ways to help us move forward and get better.”

Kristin Williams led the scoring for UMass with 14 points and three assists. Lilly Taulelei and Alexsia Rose finished with eight points apiece while Stefanie Kulesza led the team with nine rebounds and added six points. It didn’t help the Minutewomen that many of their players got into foul trouble. Both Taulelei and Bre Bellamy fouled out of the game in the fourth quarter, and Kulesza finished the game with four fouls.

“(Foul trouble) is something that’s been ongoing. It was definitely a theme early in the season for us, especially at the post spot. I’m not sure why we went back,” Leflar said. “We took a step backwards in that regard today. That was something I did just talk about with the team and hopefully that gets cleaned up.”

The first quarter left UMass playing catch-up early on; Albany jumped out to a 12-5 lead that forced a Minutewomen timeout in an effort to stem the bleeding. The Great Danes’ three-point shooting was electric in the first half – they went 5-for-7 from the 3-point line in the first quarter alone, and hit eight triples on 13 attempts by halftime to give them a 46-29 lead.

There were glimpses of potential from UMass at different points throughout the game. Lilly Ferguson came off the bench in the first quarter and sparked a dynamic 6-0 run for UMass, forcing an Albany timeout and bringing the Minutewomen within 10 points. Alexsia Rose also had some strong minutes in her second game back, finishing with eight points, two boards and a team-high four steals.

The Great Danes were always able to rally back, keeping the Minutewomen at a comfortable distance; after the first quarter, the home team never got closer than 10 points. The second half was closer – UMass managed to match Albany’s point production in the third quarter with both teams knocking down 12 points, but their struggles in the first half was too much to overcome.

The Minutewomen will open conference play with a doozy of a game, facing a VCU team with a 10-1 record. Leflar knows it will be a tough matchup, but is worried less about VCU’s accolades and more about his team’s effort.

“I’m glad (VCU is) off to a great start, but it’s just a matter of our team (and) our staff doing some soul searching here over the break and for our staff just try and figure out how we can help our team more,” Leflar said. “That’s what I’m concerned about, helping us be the best we can be on the court. I can live with the results – we can’t control if shots go in or not. What I’m disappointed in sometimes is making the same mistakes over and over again or just not being able to change.”

UMass will travel to play VCU on December 30 at 4:30 p.m. Fans can watch the game on ESPN-Plus.