Nov. 21, 2008

AMHERST, Mass. - Facing its third of four America East teams on the docket for 2008-09, the UMass women's basketball team will take on Maine in the Augusta Civic Center Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. The game will be carried on WMUA 91.1 FM as the Minutewomen look for their third straight victory.

About The Series
• The game will mark the 18th all-time meeting between UMass and Maine. The Black Bears hold a 10-7 advantage in the series; however, the Minutewomen have come away victorious in the last two meetings, winning 74-55 last season on Dec. 8, and 64-56 on Dec. 2, 1998.
• Sunday's game will be the fourth in the series played at a neutral site with Maine having won all three previous meetings.
• UMass head coach is 1-0 all time against Maine in her coaching career.

Minutewomen Tidbits
• The 2008-09 Minutewomen are a young group with only two seniors and one junior on the 13-player roster.
• UMass returns eight letterwinners, losing five. Senior Stefanie Gerardot and junior Kim Benton are the lone returning starters from the 2007-08 squad.
• Among the squad's losses are two 1,000-point scorers, All-Atlantic 10 performers Kate Mills and Pam Rosanio. Mills finished her career fourth all-time in scoring with 1,525 points, while Rosanio ranks seventh with 1,466.
• The Minutewomen were selected 12th in Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll.

About The Maine Black Bears
• In the 2008-09 America East preseason poll, the Black Bears were picked to finish eighth in the conference.
• To begin the season, Maine has dropped its opening two games (0-2), falling at Duke (98-31) and at Central Connecticut (65-57).
• Freshman Samantha Baranowski led the Black Bears in scoring against Duke with nine points, while Junior Kristin Baker had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds versus CCSU.
• Baranowski is the squad's leading scorer through two games with an average of nine points per-game.

Last Time The Minutewomen Faced The Black Bears
• Behind 19 points and six assists from Pam Rosanio, UMass cruised past Maine, 74-55, on Dec. 8, 2007 at the Mullins Center. Kate Mills added 16 points, while Kim Benton added 13, including three three-pointers. Marnie Dacko's club utilized team basketball, collecting a season-high 24 assists on 27 field goals, while putting 10 players in the scoring column.
• The Minutewomen started the game hot, jumping out to a quick 6-0 lead. Mills and Rosanio combined to score UMass' first 13 points as the Minutewomen took a 13-6 lead with 13:43 to go in the half. The Black Bears came right back, using a 13-4 run over 4:34 to take their first lead of the game, 18-17, with 8:56 left. The teams would trade the lead three more times in the first half. The Minutewomen used a 9-0 spurt over the final 3:33 of the first half to take a 36-26 lead into the locker room.
• UMass shot 50% (14-28) from the floor in the first half, including 3-for-5 from behind the arc. The Mills-Rosanio tandem led the Minutewomen with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Benton hit three three-pointers in the first half for nine points.
• The Minutewomen came out strong again to start the second half, outscoring the Black Bears, 7-2, over the first three and a half minutes. They used an 8-0 run midway through the half to further extend the lead to 62-38, with 8:28 left. It stayed all Minutewomen down the stretch as Dacko was able to use her bench while securing a 74-55 victory.
• UMass shot 52.9% (27-51) for the game, while Maine shot 40% (22-55). UMass scored 27 points off 26 Black Bears turnovers. Maine had the edge in rebounding, 34-29, while 5-5 point guard Benton led UMass with five boards. UMass dominated scoring in the paint, 34-18.

Home Sweet Home
• UMass went 7-0 in its non-conference games at the Mullins Center last season and posted an 11-3 mark at home overall.
• In the past two seasons, UMass was a combined 11-1 against non-conference foes in the Mullins Center. With a 2-0 mark at home thus far in 2008-09, that has stretched to 13-1. The last loss for the Minutewomen against a non-conference opponent at home was against Delaware on Dec. 17, 2006.

Career Highs Plentiful Early In Season
• Seniors Stefanie Gerardot and Sakera Young and sophomore Teya Wright all had career high point totals on Nov. 14 in UMass' season opener at Vermont.
• Gerardot's 29 points were not only a career high for her, but also marked the most points scored by a Minutewoman since March 6, 2003, when Jennifer Butler had 29 against La Salle. Gerardot also had a career-best eight rebounds. Her previous high was seven, which she had posted on two occasions, last against at La Salle on Feb. 6, 2008.
• Young equaled her career high with nine points, previously set two times, last at Duquesne on Feb. 20, 2008. The very next game, vs. Manhattan, Young surpassed that mark with 10 points, scoring in double figures for the first time and hitting the game-winning free throw with :02 seconds remaining in the contest.
• By halftime of the Vermont game, Teya Wright had already passed her career high of 11 points, which she set twice during her freshman campaign in 2007-08, at Northeastern (11/17/07) and at Providence (12/31/07). Wright totaled 12 points at the intermission and finished the night with a double-double on 15 points and 11 rebounds. The double-double was her second of her career and marked her fourth career game with 10+ rebounds.
• Redshirt-sophomore Diatiema Hill set career highs with nine points and six assists against Manhattan. Hill has started the first three games this season after missing all of 2007-08 with an injury.
• Two sophomores, Cerie Mosgrove and Stephanie Lawrence, had career high point totals against New Hampshire on Nov, 19. Mosgrove drained four three-pointers, contributing to her total of 14 for the night. Her previous career high (11 points) came in the final game of her freshman campaign against Dayton in the Atlantic 10 Tournament. Lawrence matched her career best total of 10, which she had previously posted on Jan. 12, 2008, against Rhode Island.

Young Moving Nearing Top-15 In Career Assists
• After leading the Minutewomen with seven assists this past Wednesday against New Hampshire, senior Sakera Young has 208 career assists to her credit. She needs just 16 more to pass 2008 graduate Kate Mills who currently sits 15th on the all-time list with 223.

Minutewomen Among A-10 Leaders
• While the 2008-09 season has just gotten underway, several Minutewomen among the top of the Atlantic 10 in several statistical categories.
• Senior Stefanie Gerardot is tied for second in scoring (22.3 ppg) and in steals per game (2.67), sophomore Teya Wright is tied for 10th in rebounds per game (7.3), redshirt sophomore Diatiema Hill is tied for fifth in asssists per game (4.00) and senior Sakera Young is tied for ninth in assists per game (3.67). Avebe Helps Spark Comeback Against Manhattan
• Sophomore Valerie Avebe saw her first collegiate action in the final 14 minutes of UMass' Nov. 16 contest against Manhattan. During that stretch, the Minutewomen outscored the Lady Jaspers, 33-12, with Avebe shooting 3-for-3 for six points and also grabbing five rebounds.

Jones Has Impressive Collegiate Debut
• Freshman Nicole Jones played just 12 minutes in UMass' season opener at Vermont on Nov. 14, but made the most of her time on the floor as she was just shy of a double-double in her first collegiate game with eight points and eight rebounds.
• Jones had one of three blocks in the game for UMass, as well.

Minutewomen Add Zullo, Transfer From N.C. State, During Offseason
• Megan Zullo has transferred to UMass from North Carolina State to play basketball for the Minutewomen and, per NCAA rules, will be eligible to play starting in 2009-10.
• A 5-8 point guard from Greenville, N.C., Zullo started in 21 games for the Wolfpack last season, averaging 5.4 points and 2.2 assists in 22.6 minutes per game. She made 43 3-pointers and shot at a .352 clip from behind the arc.
• Zullo is the niece of former UMass player Christel Zullo, a guard who starred for the Minutewomen from 1985-1989 and scored 784 points in her career. Sadly, Christel lost her life to cancer in February 2007. Last season UMass coaches, along with alumnae, created the Christel Zullo Spirit Award to be given each year to the Minutewoman that best exemplifies the energy, enthusiasm, and dedication to the team that Christel was known for.

Schedule Updates
• Since the Minutewomen's schedule was first released, there have been several updates. The biggest change: UMass' game at Rhode Island on Feb. 4, 2009, has been moved to Tuesday, Feb. 3, with the game time remaining at 7 p.m.
• Other items of note include Field Trip Day on Feb. 11 at 11:45 a.m. against Temple and a televised game on CBS College Sports at home against Rhode Island on Feb. 22 at 1:00 p.m.