Nov. 26, 2008
AMHERST, Mass. -
The UMass women's basketball team will be in unfamiliar territory this weekend as the team will head to Boulder, Colo., for the 22nd Annual Coors Classic, hosted by Colorado Friday and Saturday, Nov. 28-29. Both games will be carried on WMUA 91.1 FM and live video of UMass' game against the host Buffs will be available for a fee through www.CUBuffs.com. UMass opens up with a game against Colorado at 9:30 p.m. (EST) on Friday and will play either Drexel or Minnesota in the consolation (7:00 p.m. EST) or championship (9:30 p.m.) on Saturday at the Coors Events/Conference Center. Of the three teams in the tournament field with UMass, the Mintutewomen have only faced one in a previous meeting. UMass played Minnesota on Nov. 22, 1998 and fell by the score of 64-56.
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 Colorado Buffaloes
• Coming off a 19-15 record and a WNIT Semifinals appearance last season, the Buffaloes were picked to finish 11th in the Big 12 this season.
• Colorado is 2-1 thus far with wins over Central Florida (86-59) and Colorado State (93-63), while dropping its last game to No. 16/15 Virginia this past Monday by the score of 77-43.
• Three Buffs are averaging in double figures as Brittany Spears leads the team in scoring (17.0 ppg) followed by Kara Richards (15.0 ppg) and Bianca Smith (10.7 ppg). Spears is also the team's top rebounder (7.3 per-game).
• UMass is 0-5 all-time against members of the Big 12 Conference, previously facing Texas A&M (0-3), Texas Tech (0-1) and Kansas (0-1).
About The Drexel Dragons • Drexel was picked to finish fourth in the CAA Preseason Poll after going 18-10 in 2007-08 and finishing third in the conference.
• Entering the weekend's action Drexel is 2-2 with wins over Saint Joseph's (76-61) and Bucknell (44-35) and losses to American (74-65) and La Salle (48-46).
• Preseason All-CAA pick Gabriela Marginean leads the Dragons in scoring through four games with an eye-popping 29.5 points per game and is the squad's leading rebounder as well (8.8 per game).
• The Minutewomen are 19-21 all-time against teams currently in the CAA, previously facing Delaware (0-3), Georgia State (0-1), Hofstra (2-2), James Madison (0-2), Northeastern (15-12), Virginia Commonwealth (1-0) and William & Mary (1-1).
About The Minnesota Golden Gophers
• Minnesota posted a 20-12 mark in 2007-08, finishing third in the Big Ten and earning an NCAA Tournament berth. The Golden Gophers were picked by the coaches and fourth by the media in the Big Ten Preseason Poll.
• After dropping their opener at then-No. 2 Stanford, 68-55, the Golden Gophers have rattled off four straight wins to enter the Coors Classic at 4-1. The victories came over Santa Clara (70-45), North Dakota State (68-56), American (79-62) and Yale (87-63). The win over Yale was the title game in the Subway Classic Championship this past Sunday.
• Preseason All-Big Ten selection Emily Fox enters the weekend as the team's leading scorer at 14.2 points-per game. Katie Ohm is also averaging double figures (13.4 ppg), while Ashley Ellis-Milan is Minnesota's top rebounder (7.4) thus far.
• UMass is 1-24 all-time against current Big Ten teams (0-1 vs. Iowa, 0-2 vs. Michigan, 0-1 vs. Michigan State, 0-1 vs. Minnesota, 0-4 vs. Ohio State and 1-15 vs. Penn State).
38 And Counting...
• Friday's game will mark the first in program history played in Colorado or against a team from Colorado.
• Over the years, the Minutewomen have faced teams from 37 different states and have played games in 29 of them (Colorado will be the 38th/30th).
• Heading into this season UMass has never faced opponents hailing from the following states: Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
• The Minutewomen have faced teams from Alabama, Hawaii, Kansas, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah, but all were either at home or at neutral sites.
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 four games this season after missing all of 2007-08 with an injury. She matched her career highs in minutes played (37) and rebounds (8) on Nov. 23 vs. Maine.
• 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. Lawrence matched her career best total of 10, which she had previously posted on Jan. 12, 2008, against Rhode Island. The very next game (vs. Maine on Nov. 23), Mosgrove logged a new career high again, scoring a game-best 19 points on 6-for-13 shooting from beyond the arc.
Young Nearing Top-15 In Career Assists
• After leading the Minutewomen with seven assists on Nov. 19 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, Minutewomen rank among the top of the Atlantic 10 in several statistical categories.
• Senior Stefanie Gerardot is second in scoring (18.5 points per-game) and in steals per-game (2.75).
• Sophomore Teya Wright is tied for sixth in rebounds per-game (7.8) and is fourth in field goal percentage (.682).
• Redshirt sophomore Diatiema Hill is fifth in assists per-game (4.00) and fourth in assist/turnover ratio (1.91).
• Sophomore Cerie Mosgrove is tied for first in three-point field goals made (2.75 per-game).
• As a team, the Minutewomen rank in the top three in the A-10 in rebounding margin (3rd, +4.2), steals (2nd, 10.5 per game) and three-point field goals made (3rd, 6.0 per-game).
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 Ink Pair During November Early Signing Period
• UMass head coach Marnie Dacko announced the signing of recruits Danielle Montgomery and Shakia Robinson on Nov. 24. The duo inked National Letters of Intent to play for the Minutewomen during the November early signing period.
• Montgomery is a 5-8 guard out of Bluff City, Tenn., where she has helped Tennessee High School to Three Big 9 Conference Championships in her first three seasons and has been named the Tricitiessports.com Preseason Big 9 Player of the Year this fall as a senior.
• A three-year captain, Montgomery was selected as the Northeast Tennessee Player of the Year by the Bristol Herald-Courier as a junior, while being tabbed All-Northeast Tennessee as a sophomore and as a junior by both the Bristol Herald-Courier and the Johnson City Press. As a junior, Montgomery scored her 1,000th career point and averaged 16.4 points per-game, 2.5 steals per-game and 3.6 rebounds per-game on her way to first team All-Big 9 Conference and District 1-AAA All-Tournament Team honors. Montgomery was the District-1 AAA Tournament MVP as a sophomore and earned a spot on the Region-1 AAA All-Tournament Team as a freshman.
• The daughter of Cathy and Daniel Montgomery, Danielle played AAU ball with the Nautilus Express out of Virginia, coached by former Memphis player Justin Wimmer.
• "Danielle is a left-handed floor leader with a steady handle who has explosive potential on the offensive end," said Dacko. "She has excellent court awareness and is a good passer in transition. Danielle comes to us from Tennessee, a state that traditionally produces top-rated girls basketball players; while this is my first recruit from Tennessee, I certainly hope it is not my last."
• Robinson is a 6-1 forward who hails from North Wales, Pa., and attends North Penn High School where she is coached by Maggie deMarteleire. As a junior, she averaged 17.2 points per game and 11.4 rebounds per game and was honored as the Suburban One League National Division MVP, was a first team all-league selection, while also being named a third team honoree by the Philadelphia Inquirer and Super "10" by The Intelligencer.
• In her freshman and sophomore campaigns at Abington Friends School, she was a two-time first team all-league selection and scored a total of 749 points over her two seasons.
• The daughter of David and Charlette Robinson, Shakia played AAU ball with the Philadelphia Belles and was coached by Kevin Lynch.
• "Shakia is strong inside with good hands and is mobile in transition," said Dacko. "She is an aggressive rebounder with a blue collar work ethic. She has the same love of the game that current junior Kim Benton and recent graduate Pam Rosanio brought to UMass. Philadelphia is a talent rich city and we have had good fortune recruiting there."
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.
