Nov. 17, 2012

Women's Basketball Game Notes: UMass (1-2 overall) at #7/6 Notre Dame (1-0)
Date/Time	Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012 | 2:00 p.m.
Location	Purcell Pavilion (9,149) | South Bend, Ind.
Live Statistics	GameTracker
Live Video	NBC Sport Media Player
Radio Broadcast	WMUA 91.1 FM
Game Notes	Massachusetts | Notre Dame
Series History	Notre Dame, 1-0 (Last: Notre Dame 90, UMass 72; March 25, 1995)
Record Books	Massachusetts | Notre Dame
Social Media	@UMassWBB   | @UMassAthletics   | Sam The Minuteman

Upcoming Promotion: Family Night
When UMass women's basketball faces Siena at the Mullins Center on Friday, Dec. 28, at 7 p.m. the Minutewomen will host Family Night. All fans of UMass women's basketball can purchase a ticket to the game for the kid's rate of just $3 is accompanied by a child.

Scouting Notre Dame Women's Basketball
Notre Dame finished its 2011-12 NCAA Tournament run with an appearance in the championship game, capping the season with a 31-5 overall record and 15-1 mark in Big East play. The Fighting Irish faltered against Baylor, 80-61 in the national final and closed the season ranked No. 2 in the country by ESPN and No. 4 by the Associated Press. Notre Dame is led by 26th-year head coach Muffet McGraw, who owns a 591-215 record as the leader of the Fighting Irish.

The Fighting Irish have a pair of clutch performers from a season ago returning for 2012-13, including Skylar Diggins, who was a teammate of Minutewomen senior center Jasmine Watson during their scholastic playing days. Diggins averaged 16.8 points per game as a junior in 2011-12 while adding 5.7 assists and 3.3 rebounds in each contest.

Joining Diggins in returning is Kayla McBride, who chipped in 11.6 points and 4.6 board per game as a sophomore one year ago. The Fighting Irish will be without the help of a trio of starters from 2011-12, including Natalie Novosel, Devereaux Peters and Brittany Mallory - all of who graduated. Combined, the three then-seniors tallied 32.8 points and 16.1 rebounds per game.

The Fighting Irish enter the contest with the Minutewomen owning a 1-0 record courtesy of a 57-51 victory over #19/21 Ohio State on Friday, Nov. 9. The game was played on the USS Yorktown docked in Charleston, S.C., the first collegiate women's basketball contest to be played on an aircraft carrier.

Last Time Against The Fighting Irish
UMass and Notre Dame have competed once in the history of the programs, meeting on March 25, 1995 in Amarillo, Texas, as part of the Women's National Invitational Tournament. The Fighting Irish claimed victory in the game, 90-72 during the Minutewomen's only appearance in the WNIT in program history. To reach the contest, UMass bested Virginia Commonwealth, 70-61 on March 23 before faltering against Texas A&M, 80-59 the following day to finish the tournament in the consolation round against the Fighting Irish.

UMass' points, field goals made (25) and attempted (61), three-pointers made (4) and attempted (13) as well as the team's free throw percentage (.750; 18-24) all mark single-game bests for the team in WNIT action.

Last Time Out: Minutewomen Fall To Quinnipiac, 81-72
Playing in the Mullins Center for the second time on the 2012-13 season, UMass women's basketball fell to Quinnipiac, 81-72 on Friday evening. Four Minutewomen finished with double-digit scoring totals, led by 17 points each from senior center Jasmine Watson and freshman forward Rashida Timbilla. Sophomore forward Aisha Rodney followed with 12 points on a 5-for-6 evening from the field to go with a pair of free throws in 18 minutes. Freshman guard Jasmine Harris rounded out the group with 11 points and five boards in her first collegiate start.

After tying at 6-6 through 3:16 of play, Quinnipiac pulled ahead of the Minutewomen with a 23-13 run ending with a 29-19 lead at the 13:27 mark following a Felicia Barron layup. However, UMass cut into the deficit over the remainder of the half to pull within five of the Bobcats at the break, 40-35.

The UMass offense produced a 8-2 run to open the second half and pull the Minutewomen ahead, 43-42 at the 17:08 mark. Watson opened scoring in the stanza with a set of free throws while Bomben added a jumper and Timbilla pushed UMass into the one-point lead with a layup. After Quinnipiac rallied to move back in front, 47-55 with 13:30 left in the contest, the remainder game featured back-and-forth action.

The Minutewomen answered the Bobcats spurt of offense with eight consecutive points on a pair of layups from Timbilla, a set of free throws by Harris and a bucket by Watson to pull even at 55-55 with 11:08 remaining. However, Quinnipiac followed with five consecutive points on free throws by Brittany McQuain and Felicia Barron to pull ahead for good, 60-55. UMass twice cut its deficit to just one point but was unable to forge a lead over the remaining nine minutes of action.

Rodney hit back-to-back attempts to whittle to deficit back to one, 60-59 with 7:58 to play. After Camryn Warner added a layup and Shanna Earle converted a free throw to stake the Bobcats to a 63-59 advantage, Harris connected on a three-pointer from the left wing with 6:27 left to draw UMass within a bucket of re-taking a slim lead. Barron responded for Quinnipiac with four consecutive points before Ellen Cannon added a three-pointer with 3:35 remaining to push the Bobcats' lead to 71-64.

Sophomore forward Kim Pierre-Louis finished with seven points and five rebounds in nine minutes on the floor while redshirt-junior Kiara Bomben added seven boards, a team-high six assists and six points. Barron's 26 points paced the Bobcats while McQuain and Gillian Abshire added 10 a piece. Barron was 6-for-15 from the floor while converting 12-of-13 from the charity stripe.

UMass Routs Kent State, 83-53 In Season-Opener
Senior Jasmine Watson's 21 points led four scorers in double figures as the UMass women's basketball team rolled to a 83-53 win in the season-opener at the Mullins Center on Sunday afternoon. Watson logged her 1,000th point in the contest to become the 18th player in program history to achieve the milestone.

Watson, who went 8-for-11 from the floor in her 10th career 20-point game, also chipped in with eight rebounds, four blocks, four steals and three assists in 31 minutes on the floor. Sophomore Emily Mital followed with a career-best 16 points and was aided by a 4-for-6 afternoon from beyond the arc.

In their debuts as Minutewomen, redshirt junior Kiara Bomben and freshman Rashida Timbilla both reached double figures with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Timbilla also hauled in 10 boards to complete her double-double, including five on the offensive glass. Bomben snagged four steals and senior Dee Montgomery dished a career-best 11 assists, her second with 10 or more helpers.

All 14 UMass players who dressed for the contest saw action with 11 draining buckets in the Minutewomen's highest scoring output since Nov. 28, 2010 at East Carolina. Redshirt sophomore Millie Niggeling paced the UMass bench with seven points, shooting a perfect 3-for-3 on the day.

The Minutewomen maintained the double-digit cushion following the intermission as Kent State could draw no closer than 13 the rest of the way. UMass led by 32 with 2:05 remaining, it's largest advantage of the day.

Watson Named Atlantic 10 Player of the Week
UMass women's basketball senior center Jasmine Watson was named the Atlantic 10 Conference Player of the Week, as announced by the league on Monday afternoon. To secure the honor, Watson produced her 1,000th collegiate point while leading UMass' to an 83-53 drubbing of Kent State on Saturday during the season-opener for the Minutewomen.

Watson finished the contest against the Golden Flashes with a team-high 21 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the floor and a 5-for-8 day at the free throw line. Watson also tallied eight rebounds while adding four blocks and four steals to the winning effort.

Watson Tallies 1,000 Career Point
Senior center Jasmine Watson opened her final campaign with the Minutewomen with a 21-point effort in UMass' 83-53 victory over Kent State, eclipsing the 1,000-point plateau with her final field goal attempt of the contest.

Using her 10th collegiate game of 20 or more points, Watson became just the 18th member to the illustrious club and now stands 14 points from overtaking Beth Wilbor (1985-89) for 17th in career scoring.

Timbilla Nets Double-Double In First Collegiate Game
Freshman forward Rashida Timbilla netted a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds during her first game as a college women's basketball player, becoming the first Minutewoman to achieve a double-double during her first collegiate contest. Timbilla provided clutch outputs in both categories, hitting on 5-of-7 field goals (.714 pct.) to go with a free throw while tally five of her 10 boards on the offensive end of the court.

All That Jas Senior Jasmine Watson, UMass' top returning scorer, was named to the Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Second Team - the third consecutive year Watson has earned a spot on the all-conference listing released prior to the start of the season.

Watson played in and started all 29 UMass contests as a junior and paced the Minutewomen with 12.3 points and 7.3 rebounds during the 2011-12 campaign. Watson recorded a team-best 48 blocks, hit 49.0 percent of her field goal attempts (141-of-288) and averaged 28.7 minutes played per game.

Watson scored double-digits in points in 21 games in 2011-12, including reaching double-double status in four contests. The South Bend, Ind., native also led UMass in rebounding on 15 occasions.

Three games into her fourth season at UMass, Watson has totaled 1,034 career points (12.3 ppg), 583 rebounds (7.0 rpg) and 132 blocks (1.6 bpg). Watson, the 2009-10 Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year, is currently fifth on the program's all-time list for career blocks and ranks third in blocked shots per game.

Mital's Emergence
With the loss of point guard Carolann Cloutier to injury for the final three games of the 2011-12 season, freshman Emily Mital appeared in the starting lineup to fill the void with the second, third and fourth starts of the then-freshman's career. With the success and experience at the end of her freshman campaign, the Frisco, Texas, native secured a starting spot as UMass' shooting guard during the opening two contests of the current campaign.

In her six games as a starter, Mital has made the most of her opportunities, averaging 10.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists per-game while shooting 23-for-49 (46.9 pct) from the field, including 12-for-23 (52.2 pct) from behind the arc.

On three occasions, Mital has reset her single-game career-high in points scored during the span of starts. The sophomore guard produced 11 points against Rhode Island on Feb. 22, 2012 as a freshman before notching another personal best with 16 against Kent State during UMass' 2012-13 season-opener on Nov. 10. Mital followed with a 22-point outburst at Central Connecticut on Nov. 13, shooting 8-for-13 from the floor, including 6-for-10 from behind the arc, to add her first 20-point performance with the Minutewomen. Mital's six three-pointers ties the sophomore for fifth-most in a single contest in program history, only one shy of equaling the program mark of seven most recently achieved by Megan Zullo against Duquesne on Jan. 25, 2012.

Bomben, Montgomery and Watson Named 2012-13 Team Captains
UMass head coach Sharon Dawley named Kiara Bomben, Dee Montgomery and Jasmine Watson as the team's captains for the upcoming season. The trio will be looked upon to provide guidance and leadership for the Minutewomen squad on and off the court during the 2012-13 campaign.

Watson enters her senior season looking to become the 18th member of the Minutewomen's 1,000-points club, starting the year just 20 points shy of the 1,000-mark. Montgomery is also set to use her experience to guide the Minutewomen as a senior, beginning the campaign with 72 appearances and 22 starts. Bomben will be seeing her first minutes at UMass as a redshirt-junior after spending the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons at Florida Gulf Coast University.

Program Earns 500th Win At Siena
The UMass women's basketball team picked up the 500th win in program history, a 58-53 victory at Siena on Dec. 21. UMass is now 503-614 all-time since the program began in 1968-69.

To secure the decision, four Minutewomen earned double-figures, including 14 points each from Emilie Teuscher and Megan Zullo. Now-senior Jasmine Watson contributed a double-double with 10 points and 12 boards while current-redshirt-junior Carolann Cloutier added 10 points and four assists.

Coming From Near And Far
UMass' 15-player roster is comprised of individuals from 11 different states and provinces, including four international student-athletes.

Millie Niggeling is the first women's basketball student-athlete in program history from Iowa, while Canada is represented by three Minutewomen; Kim Pierre-Louis (Ontario), Carolann Cloutier (Quebec) and Rashida Timbilla (Ontario) and Kiara Bomben originally hails from Australia.

Jasmine Harris, Adriana Jordan and Aisha Rodney represent Michigan while two players are from within the Massachusetts borders in Amber Dillon and Victoria Stewart. UMass also has one student-athlete each from Indiana (Jasmine Harris), New Jersey (Nola Henry), Ohio (Ronni Grandison), Tennessee (Dee Montgomery) and Texas (Emily Mital).

New Minutewomen Faces
The Minutewomen have six players that could see their first collegiate minutes in a UMass jersey this season, with five true-freshman and redshirt-junior transfer Kiara Bomben. Also joining the team is redshirt-freshman transfer Amber Dillon, who played for the University of Maine in 2011-12 and will be eligible to see time for the Minutewomen beginning in 2013-14.

Bomben transferred to UMass prior to the 2011-12 season and was required to sit out the campaign as per NCAA policy. The Australia native spent her first two seasons with Florida Gulf Coast before transferring and will be looked upon as a leader on an off the floor in 2012-13 as Bomben was named a captain with seniors Dee Montgomery and Jasmine Watson.

The five 2012-13 true-freshman are Nola Henry, Jasmine Harris, Adriana Jordan, Victoria Stewart and Rashida Timbilla.

Henry started at point guard for Trenton Catholic (N.J.) during the squad's run to the NJSIAA Non-Public 8 Championship in 2010-11 while Harris averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds for North Farmington (Mich.) as a senior in 2011-12. Jordan was twice named an all-state recipient at Port Huron (Mich.) and won the Nike National Championship with the U-15 Motor City Suns. Stewart is a local product, hailing from Amherst, and was named a Franklin-Hampshire County All-Star and Daily Hampshire Gazette First Team honor at Amherst-Pelham Regional. Timbilla played one year for prep school Northfield Mount Hermon (Mass.) after attending John McCrae Secondary in Ontario, where she average more than 20 points and 14 rebounds per game in 2010-11.

Women's Basketball Radio Show On WMUA
Throughout the 2012-13 season, catch up on what's going on with the Minutewomen as WMUA broadcasters Ryan X. Murray and Pat O'Neil talk with head coach Sharon Dawley and other special guests from the UMass women's basketball team on the UMass Women's Basketball Coach's Show, Mondays from 5 to 5:30 p.m. on WMUA 91.1 FM and www.wmua.org. If you miss the airing, you will be able to catch a recorded version on UMassAthletics.com the following day.

Octavia Thomas Selected To UMass Hall Of Fame
The UMass Athletic Department has announced the five members of the 2012 Class that will be inducted into the George "Trigger" Burke Athletic Hall of Fame. The legends will be honored on Sat., Jan. 26, in the Student Union Ballroom at 6 PM. To attend the ceremony, please contact Jason Germain at 413-577-0267. The cost to attend is $50 per person. Former women's basketball star Octavia Thomas will be inducted along with Cari Nickerson Lovejoy (Women's Lacrosse 1977-80), Khari Mitchell-Samuel (Football 1995-98), Tim Soudan (Men's Lacrosse 1987-90) and Phil Vandersea (1961-64).

The No. 2 scorer in program history, Thomas was a major force in the program's resurgence in the mid-1990's. During her career from 1993-1996, Thomas helped turn a program that had won nine total games in the previous three seasons into one that made the WNIT and the NCAA tournaments during her junior and senior campaigns.