Dec. 22, 2008

AMHERST, Mass. - UMass freshman forward Kristina Danella was selected as the Atlantic 10 Women's Basketball Rookie of the Week, the conference office announced on Monday. This marked the first A-10 weekly award for a member of the Minutewomen this season, while Danella was the first rookie from UMass to be recognized since current junior Kim Benton was honored on Dec. 18, 2006.

Danella helped the Minutewomen to a 80-51 victory over Northeastern this past Saturday in the squad's only game of the week, leading all scorers with 25 points for a career high. She shot 7-for-11 (63.6%) from beyond the arc, contributed seven rebounds and one block in the win.

Her seven treys matched a program single game record originally set by Beth Kuzmeski against Dartmouth on Jan. 25, 1995 and accounted for half of the team's total as the Minutewomen also broke a school record for three-pointers in a game with 14.

Having played in all 11 of UMass' contests thus far, Danella is averaging 4.6 points per-game and 3.9 rebounds per-game with a 43.5 shooting percentage from three-point range and is 83.3% from the free throw line.

The Minutewomen will be back in action one week from today, Dec. 29, when the squad will play host to Seton Hall at 1 p.m. in the Mullins Center.