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Women's Basketball Readies For Meeting With RedHawks
Nov. 30, 2012
The Last Meeting
November 19, 2011
Oxford, Ohio
Scouting Miami (Ohio) Women's Basketball The series between the squads is even at 1-1, with Miami (Ohio) taking the most recent contest, 81-56 in Millett Hall on Nov. 19, 2011. The Minutewomen secured their victory over the RedHawks on Dec. 21, 2010, doing so, 78-72 at home in the Mullins Center. Courtney Osborn's 19.2 points per game spearheads the RedHawk offense as Osborn is hitting 40.7 percent of her field goals (35-for-86) and 84.2 percent of her free throw attempts (32-for-38). The only Miami (Ohio) player tallying a double-digit scoring average through six games, Osborn is followed in the points column by Kirstern Olowinski, who adds 8.8 points per game while tallying a team-best 8.5 rebounds in each contest. Overall, the RedHawks are being outscored, 65.2-to-60.0 through six contests while being outrebounded, 40.5-38.8 per game. Miami (Ohio) owns the edge in field goal percentage (38.4-to-36.7); however, the RedHawks have struggled from behind the arc, hitting just 28.9 percent of their attempts (26-for-90) and have committed 128 turnovers against dishing out 78 assists. A few current Minutewomen have found success against Miami (Ohio) during the pair of contests played between the programs. Now-senior guard Dee Montgomery set a career high in points with 16 during the Dec. 21, 2010 meeting while the victory marked the first time five Minutewomen scored in double-figures since the 2005 season while classmate Jasmine Watson averages 13 points and 9.5 rebounds against the RedHawks.
Last Time Out Against The RedHawks Shakia Robinson led three Minutewomen in double figures with 18 points and grabbed six rebounds. Jasmine Watson followed with 14 points and eight boards, while Emilie Teuscher added 10 points. Carolann Cloutier had six points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals, while Millie Niggeling grabbed five boards off the bench. A 32.3% shooting percentage hampered UMass in the first half compared to Miami's 51.9%. After a slow scoring start for both sides, the RedHawks made a 10-2 run over a stretch of four minutes, 19 seconds, to lead by double digits for the first time at the 11:32 mark, 16-6. The Minutewomen, aided by five points from Robinson, who finished the first half with 14, closed the gap to five with a 7-2 stretch and trailed 18-13 with 8:47 left in the period. However, Miami gradually expanded its advantage back out to double figures and led by as many as 13 before closing the half with the margin at 12, 40-28. UMass could draw no closer in the second half as Courtney Osborn opened play with a three, one of five for the RedHawks in the period. Miami finished the contest shooting 29-for-54 (53.7%) from the field and 9-for-21 (42.95) from beyond the arc compared to the Minutewomen's 20-for-62 (32.3%) and 4-for-20 from three-point range. The RedHawks were 14-for-20 (70%) at the free throw line, while UMass made 12-of-20 (60%). Osborn paced Miami with a game-high 25 points to go along with five assists and three steals. Hannah Robertson followed with 14 points and Maggie Boyer chipped in with 13. Kristen Olowinski led the RedHawks defensively with eight boards, four steals and two blocks, while also recording five points and three assists.
Last Time Out: Timbilla's Double-Double Leads UMass To Victory At Ohio, 65-61 Sophomore guard Emily Mital totaled 13 points, four rebounds and three assists while freshman guard Jasmine Harris added nine points and three boards. The UMass team total for blocks fell one shy of tying the program mark for most in a single game, tied most recently against St. Bonaventure on Feb. 27, 2008. UMass (2-5 overall) held a slim lead throughout the majority of the first half, taking a 31-27 advantage into the break. After Ohio secured a 4-3 lead on a pair of Tina Fisher free throws with 17:00 to play in the first, the Minutewomen answered with a Kim Pierre-Louis layup to take the lead for good in the half at the 15:57 mark. The Minutewomen earned their largest advantage of the opening stanza at seven points, 26-19 on a three-pointer by Harris, one of two the freshman produced during the half. Pierre-Louis finished the first with six points on 3-for-6 shooting from the field while Mital and Harris each produced eight points during the first half. UMass tallied the initial seven points of the second to grow its lead to 38-27 with 18:45 remaining. Bomben opened scoring in the 7-0 run with a three-pointer before Timbilla and Rodney produced a layup each to force Ohio to call a timeout. The Bobcats (1-4) answered with a 15-4 run of their own to pull even at 42-42 with 13:09 to play, equalizing the score with a Kiyanna Black layup. Black led all scorers in the contest with 21 points on 9-of-20 shooting from the field and a 3-for-4 performance from the free throw line. The contest featured back-and-forth play until the final buzzer as UMass did not relinquish its lead again, but was unable to build an advantage larger than eight over the remainder of the game. After Ohio pulled within one of tying, 51-50 with 6:41 to play, the Minutewomen went on a 9-2 run to pull ahead, 60-52 with 3:23 remaining. Four different UMass players recorded a bucket during the span, with Mital pushing the lead to eight on a three-pointer, one of a trio the sophomore hit against the Bobcats defense. Erin Bailes connected on a shot from behind the arc to drop the UMass advantage to 62-59 with 1:16 remaining. After Timbilla missed a shot with 58 seconds to play, the Bobcats had one last attempt to rally taken away by Mital. The Frisco, Texas, native poked the ball away from Ashley Fowler and knocked down a pair of free throws after taking a foul, extending the UMass lead to 64-59. UMass shot 38.7 percent from the field (24-for-62) and hit 6-of-14 three-point attempts (42.9 percent) while finishing 11-for-16 at the line (68.8 percent). Ohio went 22-for-65 on field goal attempts (33.8 percent) while the Minutewomen defense held the Bobcats to only three made three-pointers in 12 attempts (25.0 percent). Ohio kept the game close with a strong performance at the free throw line, knocking down 14-of-15 attempts (93.3 percent). Redshirt-sophomore forward Millie Niggeling added six points, four rebounds and a pair of blocks over 16 minutes. Forward Aisha Rodney added four points on 2-for-4 shooting from the field to go with a steal in 14 minutes during the sophomore's first start of the season and fifth of her career. UMass was without the help of senior center Jasmine Watson, who is currently listed as day-to-day as she recovers from concussion-related symptoms.
Cleaning Glass Timbilla's ability to grab rebounds on the offensive glass leads her to own 28 offensive boards so far, tied for the second-most among all A-10 women's basketball players with St. Bonaventure's Doris Ortega while her 4.0 per game average is also even with Ortego for third-most specifically on offense.
Making That Last Pass Taking care of the ball is a trademark of Montgomery's game, as the senior owns 169 helpers over four seasons against only 136 turnovers while recording a positive assist-to-turnover margin in each of her three campaigns seeing considerable minutes for the Minutewomen.
Upcoming Promotion: Family Night
Mital's Emergence In her 10 games as a starter, Mital has made the most of her opportunities, averaging 11.2 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists per-game while shooting 39-for-92 (42.4 percent) from the field, including 23-for-46 (50.0 percent) 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.
UMass Routs Kent State, 83-53 In Season-Opener 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. Kent State (0-1) scored on its opening possession to lead 2-0 before the Minutewomen strung together a 13-2 run. Then the Golden Flashes answered with an 11-3 spurt to make it a one possession game at 16-13, with 11:12 to go in the first half. However, UMass drained four of its seven first-half treys in the final eight minutes of the period to help extend the lead to 15 at the break, 39-24. 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. Finishing the contest a blistering 33-for-54 from the floor, the Minutewomen shot 61.1% overall, the squad's best performance since facing Yale on Jan. 22, 2008 (33-for-52, 63.5%). UMass made 10-of-18 (55.6%) from long range, while converting 7-of-12 at the charity stripe. The Minutewomen nearly doubled up the Golden Flashes on the boards, out-rebounding Kent State, 41-23. The Golden Flashes shot 39.3% (22-for-56) overall in the contest and had two scorers in double figures, Diamon Beckford with 15 points and Trisha Krewson with 11. Tamzin Barroilhet hauled in a team-high eight rebounds and dished three assists.
Watson Named Atlantic 10 Player of the Week 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 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 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.
Bomben, Montgomery and Watson Named 2012-13 Team Captains 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.
Coming From Near And Far 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 Watson), New Jersey (Nola Henry), Ohio (Ronni Grandison), Tennessee (Dee Montgomery) and Texas (Emily Mital).
All That Jas 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. Six games into her fourth season at UMass, Watson has totaled 1,075 career points (12.4 ppg), 606 rebounds (6.9 rpg) and 135 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 stuffs and ranks third in blocked shots per game.
New Minutewomen Faces 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
Octavia Thomas Selected To UMass Hall Of Fame 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.
Program Earns 500th Win At Siena
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.
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The UMass women's basketball team out-rebounded its opponent for a third straight game, but hot shooting by Miami University led the RedHawks past the Minutewomen, 81-56, on Saturday afternoon at Millett Hall. Following the setback, UMass is now 1-2 on the year, while Miami improves to 2-1.
