Minutewomen Host Dayton On Senior Day/Think Pink Day On Saturday at 2 PM
UMass to honor its seniors and raise breast cancer awareness.
Feb. 22, 2008
AMHERST, Mass. -
UMass women's basketball (11-15, 3-8 A-10) returns home on Saturday to host Dayton (21-6, 7-4 A-10) in a 2 p.m. tip-off at the Mullins Center. It will be Senior Day at the Mullins Center, as UMass' class of 2008, Whitney McDonald, Kate Mills, Pam Rosanio, Alisha Tatham, as well as manager Seth Hammer, will be honored in a ceremony immediately following the game. It will also be "Think Pink" Day. UMass, in conjunction with various area hospitals and health organizations, will devote the day to educating and raising breast cancer awareness. A ceremony with participating organizations will take place on the court at halftime.
The Minutewomen are looking to end a season-worst four-game losing streak. Those losses have come at Rhode Island (64-75), vs. George Washington (45-69), at Saint Louis (65-71) and at Duquesne (54-61). UMass has played four of its last five games on the road. It closes its regular season with Saturday's game vs. Dayton, home vs. St. Bonaventure on Wednesday, and at Temple next Saturday.
The Flyers are coming off a 68-66 loss vs. Richmond on Wednesday that snapped a four-game winning streak.
The Minutewomen and Flyers share nine common opponents this season, all coming in A-10 play. UMass has posted a 3-7 record against those opponents (two games vs. URI), while Dayton has gone 5-4 against them.
UMass is 9-3 at home this season, while Dayton is 10-4 away from its home court.
The game will be carried on WMUA 91.1 FM and on UMassAthletics.com with Zach Claudio and Chris Marovelli calling the action. Live stats will be available via Gametracker at UMassAthletics.com, while streaming video will be on UMass All-Access.
After Saturday's game, UMass will remain at home to take on St. Bonaventure in an A-10 contest on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Mullins Center.
SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 14th time the two teams have met in a series that dates back to 1996, with UMass holding a 9-4 advantage. The Minutewomen have won three of the last four.
Last season, on Feb. 22 at Dayton, UMass used a 23-11 run at the start of the second half to blow open what was a four-point halftime lead to win 66-58. Kate Mills set a career-high (which she tied this season vs. Northeastern) with 28 points on 12-for-18 shooting. Tamara Tatham had an all-round great game with eight points, 14 rebounds, and six assists. The Flyers were led by Jennifer Strong and Kendel Ross with 12 points each.
UMass is 4-3 at home vs. Dayton and the visiting team has won the last three meetings, including Dayton's last win in the series, 57-51, on Jan. 4, 2006 at the Mullins Center.
Marnie Dacko is 3-2 in her career vs. Dayton, all coming while coaching at UMass, while this year's senior class has posted a 2-1 record vs. the Flyers with both wins coming at Dayton.
SCOUTING DAYTON
Dayton is 21-6 overall this season and enters Saturday's game 7-4 in A-10 play. The Flyers come into Saturday's game on the heels of a 68-66 loss to Richmond on Wednesday. That loss snapped a four-game winning streak, with victories over St. Bonaventure (64-51), Fordham (56-39), Xavier (44-43), and Rhode Island (63-50). Their other three conference losses have come at Duquesne (83-69), vs. Charlotte (64-51), and at #16 GW (81-73). Dayton opened the season with two losses, then went on a 16-game winning streak that took it into conference play. The Flyers finished with an impressive 14-2 non-conference mark.
The Flyers are led by 6-2 senior forward Nikki Oakland at 14.0 points per game and 7.7 rebounds per game while shooting 51.8% from the field. 6-0 senior guard Brittany Holterman is second on the team at 11.1 ppg and averages 4.9 rpg. She has the third-best field goal percentage in the A-10 at .547. 6-0 freshman forward Kristen Daugherty is the third Flyer averaging double-figures with 10.2 ppg and has made 24 3-pointers. 5-8 senior point guard Karah Cloxton scores 6.4 ppg and is the team's top playmaker with 125 assists. 6-0 senior guard Kiki Lund scores 8.0 ppg off the bench and is the #2 3-point threat in the A-10, shooting 42.9% (54-126) from behind the arc.
The Flyers are the third-highest scoring team in the A-10 at 66.8 ppg and at the defensive end hold teams to the second-lowest field goal percentage (.357) and the lowest 3-point field goal percentage (.291) in the conference.
Jim Jabir is in his fifth season coaching the Flyers and has a 66-78 (.458) record. The 1984 Nazareth College graduate has a career record of 285-301 (.486) and led Dayton to a 12-19 finish in 2006-07 with a 6-8 mark in A-10 play, good for ninth. He came to Dayton after serving as an assistant at Colorado for two seasons. Prior to coaching the Buffaloes, Jabir had head coaching stints at Nazareth, Buffalo State, Siena, Marquette, and Providence.
LAST TIME OUT
Despite Pam Rosanio turning in a 22-point, eight-rebound performance, the Minutewomen fell at Duquesne 61-54. The Dukes led, 50-39, with 8:16 left before UMass went on a 10-3 run, but Duquesne closed the game by outscoring the Minutewomen, 8-5. Sakera Young set a career-high with 12 rebounds and added nine points and six assists.
UMass cut the lead to one, 33-32, at the 16:50 mark of the second half, but Duquesne responded with a 14-5 run that gave it a 10-point lead, 47-37, with 9:42 on the clock. With the Dukes leading, 51-41, with 6:45 left, the Minutewomen went on an 8-2 run that cut the deficit to four, 53-49, with 2:33 left. Little nailed four-straight free throws for Duquesne and a Keri Pryor steal and layup upped the Dukes lead to 59-51 with 20 seconds on the clock. Cerie Mosgrove's 3-pointer with 10 seconds left got UMass within five, but two more Little free throws iced the game for Duquesne, 61-54.
ROSANIO REACHES MILESTONES
With her next three assists, senior Pam Rosanio will join UMass all-time leading scorer Sue Peters (`80) as the only players in school history with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, and 300 assists in a career.
With her 29th minute played on Wednesday, Rosanio passed Melissa Gurile's mark of 3,737 to become the all-time UMass leader in minutes played in a career. The four-year starter played all 40 minutes and has now logged 3,749 minutes in a UMass uniform.
HOME SWEET HOME
The Mullins Center has been extra good to the Minutewomen this season. They are 9-3 on Jack Leaman Court this season.
UMass started out a perfect 7-0 at home this season. It was their best start at home since the 1995-96 season, when UMass ran the table at home, going 12-0. They finished 20-10 that season, culminating in the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance.
UMass averages almost 11 points per game more at home (69.8 to 59.0) while allowing over three fewer (63.6 to 67.0). The Minutewomen also shoot much better in the familiar surroundings, 48.4% to 40.6%. The biggest difference has been behind the 3-point arc, where they shoot 36.8% at home as opposed to 23.9% on the road.
UMass' Dec. 22 victory over Buffalo was No. 100 for the Minutewomen at the Mullins Center. They currently have a record of 104-61 (.630) on their home court since their first game there on Jan. 2, 1994 vs. Vanderbilt.
NEXT GAME: VS. ST. BONAVENTURE
The Minutewomen return to action on Wednesday at 7 p.m., when they host St. Bonaventure in an A-10 match-up at the Mullins Center.
WMUA 91.1 FM and UMassAthletics.com will carry the game with Mike Walsh and Zach Claudio covering the action. Gametracker and streaming video will also be available at UMassAthletics.com.
