Schedule Updates

Season Outlook Q&A With Head Coach Marnie Dacko

Q: What are some of the team's goals and aspirations for the 2008-09 campaign?

A: "The goals for this season are to have a season of continual improvement; it's a clean slate for everybody on the team. I would like to see is us come in and be able to generate a competitive atmosphere every practice and have this carry over to games. We have a great deal of potential in every position on the floor. Only a handful of the present team has actual game experience. I am anxious to see is who is going to emerge and put themselves in a position to be successful on the floor. Who is going to communicate with their teammates on both ends of the floor, who is going to understand the offense, who is going to earn hustle points on rebounds and loose balls and who is going to stop someone at the defensive end. I want to see who is going to make my job easier. Right now, we're working with different combinations, experimenting to find players that can work well together at both ends of the floor. I am an emotional type of coach and looking for players willing to play with their heads and their hearts."

A: "The dribble drive offense fits our personnel well this season. We have more true three-point shooters than we've had in the past. Senior Stefanie Gerardot, junior Kim Benton and sophomore Cerie Mosgrove have worked hard in the off-season developing consistency and their work is paying off in tearly season practices. Sophomore Stephanie Lawrence is showing an improved ability to score both inside and outside. Our `slashers', senior Sakera Young and redshirt sophomore Diateima Hill are growing into their roles in the dribble drive offense. Good decision making from our backcourt is a critical key to our future success and players are learning when to attack and where to attack the defense. Our returning inside players, sophomores Teya Wright and Valerie Avebe will be counted on heavily to get up and down the court and help to control things within the key. We are not a big team inside but we are athletic and these two in particular are battlers on the boards.

"Our freshmen come in to UMass highly-touted and they all have championship experience at the high school level. How quickly we can incorporate them into our day-to-day plans will be a factor of their conditioning and overall adjusting to the demands of the college game. I know they are going to have an impact on our program; I just don't know exactly when we will see their full impact.

"Our coaching staff is learning this offense every day as the players are learning it. We are going to find our strengths and weaknesses and work hard to improve in some areas and build off our success in other areas. I think that we are going to understand tempo, time and possession situations sooner rather than later. We've spent a lot of time in the preseason introducing the offensive tactics which means we have to play `catch up' with our defense. The bottom line is patience; we need to be patient with the players and their understanding of the new offense. And the players have to be patient in understanding their roles and their teammate's roles. While the learning process is sometimes longer than I would like, I do believe in this new system and feel it's going to lead to exciting things down the road. People remind me that a basketball season is a marathon not a sprint. That is something I am going to have to remind myself the next few weeks."

Q: Whom are your upperclassmen coming back and what do they bring to this team?

A: "Stefanie (Gerardot) and Sakera (Young) are our seniors. Stefanie is a consummate team player. She really is the pulse of our team; the other players respect her for her hard work and her outstanding people skills. Stef is a great listener and you don't always hear that about someone.

"Stefanie came in this preseason in outstanding shape, in spite of working long days as an accounting intern in Boston this summer. She is somebody who can hit the outside shot and get to the basket and finish the play. She comes in to my office everyday wondering what she can do to keep improving. With her team-first attitude, I would be very happy if I had 12 Stef Gerardot's on my team.

"Her classmate, Sakera, is someone who sets our scorers up on the perimeter and somebody who can trigger the defense and have our offense feed on that. Kera was a good distributor last year and I would like to see her be our assist leader again this season. Kera has the speed and strength to break teams down and either score or get to the foul line. She's an excellent foul shooter who can contribute 6-8 points a game from the line. Kera is a fiery player and a player the team can rally around.

"Kim (Benton) is a junior who I expect to have a great year. She's worked hard and her fitness is better than ever. She's a fighter and a competitor who wants to win ballgames; she always puts the team first.

"Diatiema (Hill) who arrived in Amherst at the same time as Kim, but sat out last year with a season-ending knee injury. When healthy, she has the ability to be a stingy defensive player and does a nice job disrupting the other team's tempo. Tiema has an uncanny way of getting touches offensively. When you look at her, she's small, but when the ball goes up she has a way of playing above her size. The dribble drive offense seems like a good fit for Tiema and I expect her sophomore year to be a good one."

Q: Your sophomores make up a large part of this team - what do you expect from them?

A: "Our sophomores, they are our nucleus and are setting the tone for our future. Starting with Teya (Wright), who saw significant time as a freshman and showed flashes of brilliance. Teya is an outstanding rebounder and has an uncanny knack of tracking the ball; she is capable of impacting a game at both ends of the floor. "Cerie (Mosgrove) closed out last season with her best game of the year against Dayton in the Atlantic-10 Tournament where she reached double-figures in scoring. She's starting to emerge as someone who wants to get quality minutes, and has gained more confidence and is making every effort to become a "go to player." Cerie is a streaky shooter and when she is in a groove she is one of the best three-point shooters we have had in a UMass uniform.

"Stephanie (Lawrence) is a cerebral player; she can hit the outside shot and can post inside but more than her scoring abilities, she understands the offense. Steph is a steady player; who rarely makes the flashy play, but makes the right play at the right time.

"Val (Avebe) sat out last year and benefited greatly. She has a better understanding of our defensive and offensive philosophies. Val is very athletic and gives us good depth in the post position. I expect her to come in and be an immediate defensive help. As her offensive skills continue to improve her game minutes will likewise go up."

Q: Who are your new players joining the squad this season?

A: "We have an exciting freshman class. Kristina (Danella) was a highly recruited player out of Manalapan, N.J., who is a great shooter with an inside-outside presence. She is one of the best perimeter shooters I've seen in a long time. As her confidence expands, so will her productivity.

"Emilie (Teuscher), from Miamisburg, Ohio, is a quality shooter. She does a nice job finding open teammates, yet manages to score in a variety of ways. Emilie comes from a great AAU program, the Dayton Lady Hoopsters, and is someone that can step in and help us this season at the two guard position.

"Nicki Jones, out of Rochester, N.Y., is a physical presence inside. She's very long and has the ability to block shots. She's someone that needs to anchor our defense and be more aggressive offensively. As Nicki becomes more comfortable with adding to her moves in the post, she will definitely be a scoring threat in the near future.

"Alesia Howard is an aggressive swing player coming to us from Columbus, Ohio. Alesia is expected to be one of our top defenders, even as a freshman and we will count on her heavily in this area. Offensively, Alesia is more of a `setup' person at this stage of her career; I fully expect her offense to catch up to her defense as the year progresses.

"We also welcome a transfer to the program. Megan Zullo will have to sit out this year but she has valuable college experience after two years at N.C. State. Playing in the ACC, Megan has an understanding of what it takes to compete at a high level day after day. She will have an opportunity to share her wisdom with our younger players at practice and I know they will benefit from her insight. As a vocal leader, Megan has stood out from day one; she helps create an enthusiastic environment and I really like her positive energy."

Q: What are your thoughts on this year's schedule? What are some of the key games leading up to conference play?

A: "The non-conference season is our chance to expose our players to different styles of play and put them in environments that are not always welcoming. The first two months of the season prepare us for the rigorous A-10 schedule; this year in particular, we have set up a schedule that will help our young players to mature as the season progresses.

"We start off the season going to up to Vermont. The Catamounts are coming off a 24-win season and return their entire starting line-up. We then come home to play two regional opponents, Manhattan and New Hampshire, before heading up to Augusta, Maine, to play the Black Bears on a neutral court. I like the thought of playing at the Augusta Civic Center; it is a non-collegiate arena,which will expose our team to a different `game feel'.

"The Thanksgiving holidays have us traveling to Colorado where we have the possible chance to play a Big 12 and a Big 10 team (Minnesota) on the same weekend. Both these teams are perennial powers in their respective conferences, so our young team will be tested early and often.

"We then return to the Mullins Center to play and up-and-coming team in the BIG EAST, Providence College; last year we lost a heartbreaker at their place. A trip to Rhode Island follows for the Brown Classic where we will play Long Island and Brown on back-to-back days.

"Two home games vs. CAA teams, Delaware and Northeastern, close out the semester schedule. These games are broken up by our first semester final exams, so our players will really have to stay focused in all areas to withstand the challenges that exam time presents, both in the classroom and on the basketball court.

"Our players will head home for the holidays and then return for a four-game stint to close out the non-conference portion of the schedule. BIG EAST foe Seton Hall and ACC rival Boston College are included in this four game series; last year we outlasted a strong BC team that went on to the postseason WNIT tournament.

"I think we have a good balance of some of the top teams from our region and others from around the nation to give our players the chance to see competition from all parts of the country. It should prepare us well for our challenging Atlantic 10 schedule.

"The A-10 season should be an exciting one. Xavier, a team that makes a trip to the Mullins Center on Jan. 21, has been tabbed as a Top-20 team and is a talented and deep squad after coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance last season. Two schools, George Washington and Temple, introduced new coaches; both teams went to the NCAA Tournament in 2007-08 as well, with George Washington advancing to the Sweet 16. We will play Temple at home on Feb. 11, with an 11:45 a.m. start, as it will mark our annual Field Trip Day. We will travel to George Washington on Feb. 18. Our following game at home on Feb. 22 against rival Rhode Island, will air on CBS College Sports, giving our program National television exposure.

"As a whole, the Atlantic 10 is coming off one of its most successful campaigns in conference history and I look forward to us taking the court against this high-caliber competition in 2008-09."