What's On Tap

• Following a two-week break for final exams and the holidays, Massachusetts (9-3) heads across the Commonwealth for a New Year's Eve matinee at Boston College (9-4). Game time is set for 1:00 PM at Conte Forum.

• UMass is coming off a tough 63-62 loss to Delaware on Dec. 17 at the Mullins Center. The Minutewomen led by six points with 4:29 left, but were unable to hang onto the lead. Kim Benton and Kate Mills led the way with 14 points apiece for the Minutewomen while Stefanie Gerardot added 12 points and Pam Rosanio had 11.

Scouting Boston College

• Boston College enters Sunday's game with a 9-4 record and is receiving votes in both major polls. The Eagles have won six of their last eight games, but just suffered a 68-58 set-back against Harvard Thursday afternoon at Conte Forum.

The Series

• Boston College has won six of the nine games in this series, including the last four games. The two teams have split the four games in Chestnut Hill.

• The Minutewomen are looking to avenge last year's 83-44 loss at Conte Forum.

• The game will be a reunion for UMass head coach Marnie Dacko and Boston College head coach Cathy Inglese. The two were teammates at Southern Connecticut State for two seasons. Dacko was a 1978 graduate while Inglese graduated in 1980.

• • UMass Assistant Coach Mary Ciuk was a 1980 graduate as well. In addition, University of Arizona head coach Joan Bonvicini graduated from that same school in 1975. Her senior season was Dacko's freshman year.

• In Dacko's four years at the Trumbull, Conn., school, she led the Owls to a 72-27 record, four top 10 finishes and four trips to the AIAW Division I national tournament as a player. Dacko averaged team-highs of 17.2 points and 9.6 rebounds as a junior, as SCSU finished 20-6 overall and sixth at the national tournament. In her senior season, the Owls went 19-11 and finished fifth at the AIAW national tournament behind her 17 points and seven rebounds per game.

• Dacko was recently inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame for her effort at SCSU.

Hot Start

• After beating Stephen F. Austin, 71-63, in the first round of the Best Western Roundball Classic on Nov. 25, UMass began the season 5-0 for the first time since the 1988-89 season.

• The best start to a season in school history was 9-0 by the 1968-69 team, the first womenâ€TMs basketball squad in school history. That team finished the season 13-2.

• Dating back to last year, UMass has won 17 of its last 23 regular season games.

• It was Feb. 12, 2006 before the Minutewomen posted their ninth win last season, a 68-63 win over Fordham.

• This also marks the most wins UMass has ever had before Jan. 1. The previous best was eight when the 2002-03 team (Marnie Dacko's first season at UMass) had eight wins.

A Rare Overtime

• UMass defeated Buffalo, 72-67, in overtime on Dec. 10. That was the Minutewomen's first overtime contest since a loss at St. Bonaventure on Feb. 19, 2004.

Grabbing Those Boards

• Senior Tamara Tatham hauled in a career-high 18 rebounds in UMass' win over Northeastern on Dec. 2.

• It was the most rebounds by a Minutewoman since Edris Bailey had 18 vs. Duquesne on Feb. 8, 2004.

• As a team, the Minutewomen rank fourth in the league in rebounding margin (+2.9).

• UMass has three players in the top 19 for rebounding.

• Tamara Tatham is second in the league with 9.5 rpg. Kate Mills is 12th at 6.8 rpg while Pam Rosanio is tied for 19th at 6.1 rpg.

Dishing Them Out

• A good sign of team basketball is high assist numbers and UMass has certainly achieved that this year.

• The Minutewomen currently rank first in the A-10 averaging 16.42 assists a game and are also tied for first with a 0.98 assist to turnover ratio.

• The assists have come from very unlikely spots though. UMass' starting front court has combined for 100 assists while the back court has just 44.

• 6-1 Tamara Tatham leads the team and is now fourth in the A-10 with 3.58 assists per game. She dished out a career-high eight helpers Nov. 30 against Wagner.

Benton Likes To Start

• Freshman Kim Benton earned her first career start Dec. 10 at Buffalo and that proved dividends from the opening tip. She has now started three straight games averaging 14.7 ppg.

• Benton scored a career-high 15 points and hit a three-pointer on three consecutive UMass possessions early in the Buffalo game.

• She followed that up with another 15-point performance in her second straight start Dec. 13 vs. Eastern Michigan and also had 14 vs. Delaware three days later en route to Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week honors Dec, 18. It was her first career accolade.

• For the season, Benton is fourth on the team averaging 7.8 ppg. She ranks tied for sixth in the A-10 in three-point field goals made (2.00/game) and is also ninth in three-point field goal percentage (.369).

A Tourney Win

• UMass' win in the Aeropostale Seton Hall Basketball Classic was its third in-season tournament win all-time and first since taking the Blue Sky Dartmouth Classic, Dec. 28-29, 1999, in Hanover, N.H. The Minutewomen beat Furman and William & Mary en route to the title.

• The only other in-season tournament UMass has won was the Wagner Christmas Tournament, Dec. 28-29, 1996, in Staten Island, N.Y. That year, the Minutewomen knocked off Wagner and New Hampshire en route to the title.

• Overall, UMass is 37-58 (.389) in regular season tournament play.

Tough Defense

• UMass got off to its best defensive start since the 1973-74 season season after allowing just 47.0 ppg in its first four games.

• In 1973-74, the Minutewomen allowed just 141 points (35.3 ppg) in their first four games against Connecticut (68-27), Northeastern (45-37), Keene State (33-36) and Central Connecticut (51-41). It was also the best four-game defensive effort since the 1995-96 team allowed just 182 points (45.5 ppg) in consecutive games against Temple, Xavier, Duquesne and Fordham (Feb. 8-18).

• So far this year, UMass has held opponents to just 38 percent (275-733) from the floor and 31 percent (72-235) from three-point range.

• The Minutewomen rank third in the league in scoring defense (60.2 ppg), fifth in field goal percentage defense and also fifth in three-point field goal defense.

Tatham Seeing Double

• Tamara Tatham has posted four double-doubles in her last eight games, most recently Dec.10 at Buffalo.

• Tatham had just six career double-doubles heading into this season.

• The four double-doubles ties her for the most by an A-10 player this year.

• Tatham is currently averaging 10.8 ppg and 9.5 rpg. She is 27th in the league in scoring, second in rebounding and fourth in assists (3.58).

Younger Sister Breaks Out

• Junior Alisha Tatham recorded back-to-back solid games at the Best Western Roundball Classic Nov. 25-26, and was a major factor on UMass' comeback win against Stephen F. Austin in the first round.

• Tatham had nine points against Stephen F. Austin, all in a five minute span of the second half that was part of UMass' 25-12 run to erase a 12-point halftime deficit.

• Tatham followed that up with a career-high-tying 13 points in the championship game against South Florida the next day. Tatham was 7-for-11 from the line against the Bulls and 7-for-11 from the field for the weekend, including a perfect 3-for-3 against South Florida.

• For the season, Tatham is fifth on the team averaging 6.4 ppg.

Gerardot Notches High Game

• Sophomore Stephanie Gerardot scored a career-high 15 points in UMass' win against Wagner on Nov. 30, just the second time in her career that she broke into double-figures.

• The Fort Wayne, Ind., native tallied 12 points in UMass' loss vs. Delaware Dec. 17 for just her third career 10-plus point output.

• For the season, Gerardot is sixth on the team averaging 5.6 ppg.

Dacko In Non-Conference Play

• In four-plus years under Dacko, UMass has fared quite well in its non-conference schedule. The Minutewomen are now 31-25 (.554) in 56 games.

• In addition, UMass has won 15 of its last 20 non-conference home games.

Mullins Magic

• Despite having its 10-game Mullins Center winning streak snapped by Delaware Dec. 17, Massachusetts has still won 34 of its last 53 games at home, a .642 winning percentage.

• UMass' longest home winning streak prior to this most recent 10-gamer was 14 from Feb. 18, 1995 against Temple to Feb. 27, 1996 vs. Rhode Island. That is also the school record.

Getting To The Line

• The UMass coaching staff has stressed going to the line and that has certainly been the case this year.

• UMass has gone to the line 272 times, almost double the 147 trips its opponents have made.

• UMass is second in the league to Saint Louis in free throws (296).

• UMass has made more free throws than its opponents have taken in eight of the 12 games this season and 20 of the last 26 games dating back to last year.

Mills And Rosanio Pick Right Up Where They Left Off

• Juniors Kate Mills and Pam Rosanio have picked right up where they left off after All-Conference seasons in 2005-06.

• Mills began the season with consecutive double-doubles and is now averaging 16.1 ppg and 6.8 rpg. Mills is first on the team and fifth in the A-10 in points, while she is second on the team and 12th in the league in rebounding and third in blocked shots (1.92).

• Mills scored 20 points in UMass' Dec. 13 win over Eastern Michigan, her sixth career 20-point game. She has also reached double figures in each of UMass' 12 games this year.

• Mills is a 59 percent (74-125) shooter from the field, good for third in the league, and 82 percent (45-55) at the free throw line, ninth in the league.

• For the second time this season, Rosanio just missed her first career double-double against Wagner (18 pts, nine rb) and is now averaging 11.8 ppg, 6.1 rpg and 2.5 apg.

• Rosanio scored 22 points against Northeastern Dec. 2, her fourth career 20-point game.

• She is now 21st in the league in scoring and tied for 19th on the glass.

Closing In On 1,000

• Senior Tamara Tatham needs just 68 more points to become the 15th player in UMass history to eclipse the 1,000-point plateau.

• Tatham is currently 18th in UMass history with her 932 points.

• Junior Pam Rosanio is also quickly moving up the career ranks. She needs 194 more points to break 1,000 for her career.

• Rosanio is 23rd with her 806 career points.

Block Party

• Both Tatham and Mills are moving up the career blocks chart. Mills is now sixth all-time at UMass with 85 blocked shots, over one a game in her career. Tatham, meanwhile, ranks 10th with 55.

• Mills is third in the A-10 this year with 23 blocked shots, an average of 1.9 a game.

Snapping The Road Streak

• UMass' 60-48 win at Vermont Nov. 10 was the first season-opening road win in its last 10 games.

• The last UMass win on the road to begin a season was also against Vermont, a 60-52 victory on Nov. 26, 1988.