Oct. 19, 2012

AMHERST, Mass. - UMass women's basketball is closing out its third week of preseason practice on Friday and the squad has shown improvement across all facets of the game over the 2012-13 preseason. With a focus on installing a new motion offense system, the Minutewomen and head coach Sharon Dawley have also stressed the importance of developing the defensive abilities of each player.

"We are working on a lot of defense, making sure our defensive rotation is where it needs to be," senior guard Dee Montgomery said. "We are making sure we are in the right spots while working on talking and boxing out, because without defense there really isn't offense."

The newcomers to the Minutewomen squad are making an impact on both ends of the court and will be looked upon to help improve the team's overall defensive performance as well as the motion system.

"Right now we are just working on getting after it during every practice," freshman guard Nola Henry said. "We are locking up on defense and executing every play that we put in so we can connect the dots and have everyone understand everything that is going on."

The Minutewomen open the 2012-13 season at home in the Mullins Center against Kent State at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 10. Tickets are available for all UMass women's basketball home games through the ticket office at 866-UMASS-TIX.