Dec. 18, 2008

Following 10 days off for final exams, the UMass women's basketball team will return to the court this Saturday, Dec. 20, as the squad will play host to Northeastern in the opening game of a UMass basketball doubleheader as the men's contest against Hofstra will follow at 4 p.m. Fans attending the women's game can bring an unwrapped toy and receive a $2 ticket (one ticket per gift). The contest will be carried on WMUA 91.1 FM and will mark the second of four straight at home for the Minutewomen. Live stats will available via Gametracker at UMassAthletics.com.

Saturday's match up marks the 28th all-time meeting between UMass and Northeastern with the Minutewomen holding a 15-12 advantage in the series. The Huskies came away with the victory against UMass last season, winning 86-81 on Nov. 17, 2007 in Boston. Head Coach Marnie Dacko holds a 2-3 career record against Northeastern. All five previous meetings have come during her tenure at UMass.

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 from 2007-08 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.

Minutewomen Honored For Tournament Performances
•Sophomore Cerie Mosgrove and senior Stefanie Gerardot have been honored for their success at tournaments this season as Mosgrove was named to the Coors Classic All-Tournament Team and joined Gerardot on the Brown Bear Classic All-Tournament squad.
•Both were recognized as UMass/Dinn Bros. Athletes of the Week for their performances as well. Mosgrove earned the honor on Dec. 1 after averaging 13.0 points per-game at the Coors Classic, including 17 points against Minnesota. Gerardot was honored on Monday, Dec. 8, as Co-Athlete of the Week after averaging 18.0 points per-game in a 2-1 week, including 22 points against Brown at the Brown Bear Classic.

About The Northeastern Huskies
•Northeastern posted a 14-16 record in 2007-08 and finished sixth in the Colonial Athletic Association with a record of 8-10. The Huskies were picked ninth in the 2008-09 CAA preseason poll.
•Northeastern enters Saturday's game with a record of 2-5. Both of the Huskies' wins have come on the road against Rhode Island (56-53) and at Stony Brook (62-51). In it's last time on the court, Northeastern fell to New Hampshire by the score of 70-62.
•Sophomore Jasmine Crew leads the Huskies squad with an average of 12.1 points per-game, while junior Kim Carr follows at 11.7 points per-game on 52.3% shooting. Junior Kendra Walton is just shy of averaging a double-double at 9.9 points per-game and 8.7 rebounds per-game.

The Last Meeting: UMass vs. Northeastern
•BOSTON, Mass. - The UMass women's basketball team (2-1) suffered its first loss of the 2007-08 season, falling 86-81 to Northeastern (2-1) on Nov. 17 at Solomon Court. Kate Mills tied her career-high with 28 points for the Minutewomen. Alisha Tatham also tied her career-high with 14. Pam Rosanio added 13 points for UMass, while freshman Teya Wright almost recorded a double-double with 11 points and 9 rebounds. Ashlee Feldman led the Huskies with 21 points.
•Northeastern shot 55 percent from three-point range in the game, going 11-20. UMass shot well from the field, 55.2 percent, but went only 2-10 from long-range. •It was a tight game in the early going. UMass went inside early with Mills scoring eight of the team's first 12 points. Meanwhile, the Huskies used the three-point shot to stay with the Minutewomen. A pair of Stefanie Gerardot (Fort Wayne, Ind.) free throws with 10:54 remaining in the opening half put UMass ahead 16-15.
•Northeastern then put together a 13-0 run, highlighted by two Feldman three-pointers, putting the Huskies up, 28-16.
•A Mills lay-in at 7:19 ended a UMass scoring drought that lasted 3:35 and began a 10-4 Minutewomen run that got them back within six, 32-26. Rosanio capped off the stretch with a steal on the defensive end and went coast-to-coast, making the lay-up despite getting fouled.
•The first half ended with the Huskies taking a 39-31 lead into the locker room. Feldman led all scorers in the opening half with 13 points, going 3-4 from long-range, as the Huskies shot 7-12 (58.3%) as a team from behind the arc. Mills paced the UMass attack, tallying 12 points on 6-8 shooting.
•Northeastern built on their lead to start the second half, using an 8-2 run over the first 2:57. The UMass deficit would eventually reach a high of 16 points with 13:45 remaining.
•The Minutewomen used multiple defenses and balanced scoring to cut the lead from 16 down to as few as four at the 7:22 mark. That 6:05 stretch saw UMass outscore the Huskies, 18-6.
•That's as low as the lead would get, as the Northeastern was able to match the Minutewomen basket-for-basket down the stretch and forcing them into a fouling situation. The Huskies were able to make the free throws they needed in the final minute to hold on to the 86-81 victory.

Cerie...For Three!
•Sophomore Cerie Mosgrove is the Atlantic-10 leader in three-point field goals made with an average of 3.1 per-game and entered the week ranked 14th nationally.
•Mosgrove's 31 treys already surpassed the team lead from the 2007-08 season. Current senior Stefanie Gerardot had a team-high 26 made three-pointers last year.
•Mosgrove already has 44 career three-pointers, which ranks 15th all-time in program history. She is 12 away from breaking into the single season list. Katie Nelson '06 holds the record with 58 three-pointers in a season (2004-05). Nelson averaged 2.0 made threes per-game that year.

More On Three-Point Shooting
•As a team, the Minutewomen are already more than halfway to last year's total for three-point field goals with 69 in 10 games. The squad finished with 101 in 30 games last season. Currently the team record for a season is 117, set during the 2002-03 campaign (28 games), an average of 4.18 per-game.
•Junior Kim Benton is now sixth all time in career three-pointers (87), six away from tying 2008 graduate Pam Rosanio for fifth. Senior Stefanie Gerardot is eighth with 75, eight away from passing Tez Kraft '99 for seventh.
•The team record for three-point field goals made in a game was nine entering 2008-09, set back on Jan. 18, 2003 vs. St. Bonaventure. The Minutewomen broke that record with 10 against New Hampshire on Nov. 19, before surpassing the mark with 11 at Colorado on Nov. 28. UMass equaled the record of 11 at Brown on Dec. 7 and also had 10 against Minnesota on Nov. 29.
•UMass is currently tied for the Atlantic 10 lead in three-point field goals per-game at 6.9.

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 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. Gerardot has reached double figures in scoring in eight out of 10 games this season, surpassing the 20-point mark three times.
•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. Young once again matched her career high with 10 against Minnesota on Nov. 29. She posted a career-best 11 assists at Brown on Dec. 7.
•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. At the Coors Classic, Wright set a new career high for points with 24 vs. Colorado had 13 rebounds, marking her first 20-point game of her career. Wright had a career-best 16 rebounds vs. Delaware on Dec. 10, the highest total posted by a member of the Minutewomen since Kate Mills totaled 19 against Dayton on March 7, 2008.
•Redshirt-sophomore Diatiema Hill set career highs with nine points and six assists against Manhattan. 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. On Dec. 3 against Providence, Lawrence set new career highs in points (12), minutes played (26) and matched her career best in rebounds (5).

Young Climbing Career Assist Chart
•With 35 assists on the year, senior Sakera Young has 232 career assists to her credit. She is now 13th all-time, 11 away from passing Sue Henry '78 for 12th.
•Young's single game total of 11 against Brown on Dec. 7 was not only her career high, but was the most by a Minutewomen since Katie Nelson '06 had 10 against Saint Joseph's on Feb. 5, 2006.
•Young's 11 assists is also the highest total by an Atlantic-10 player this season.

Minutewomen Among A-10 Leaders
•Minutewomen rank among the top of the Atlantic 10 in several statistical categories.
•Senior Stefanie Gerardot is second in scoring (16.0 points per-game)
•Sophomore Teya Wright is fifth in rebounds per-game (8.4), second in offensive rebounds per-game (3.8), sixth in field goal percentage (.529) and tied for ninth in steals per-game (1.7)
•Senior Sakera Young is fifth in assists per-game (3.5)
•Redshirt sophomore Diatiema Hill is tied for 10th in assists per-game (3.1) and is seventh in assist-turnover ratio (1.24).
•Sophomore Cerie Mosgrove is first in three-point field goals made (3.1 per-game).

38 And Counting...
•UMass' opening game at the Coors Classic marked the first in program history played in Colorado or against a team from Colorado.
•Over the years, the Minutewomen have faced teams from 38 different states and have played games in 31 of them.
•UMass has never faced opponents hailing from the following states: Alaska, Idaho, Illinois, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
•The Minutewomen have faced teams from Alabama, Kansas, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah, but all were either at home or at neutral sites.

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.