Considered to be one of the most decorated athletes UMass has ever produced, Danielle Henderson enters her second season as a volunteer assistant coach for the Minutewomen after spending the last four as the team's first assistant. A member of the gold medal-winning 2000 U.S. Olympic softball team and 2001 WPSL Gold team, Henderson will concentrate her effort on the development of the UMass pitching staff. This past winter, Henderson was inducted into the New England Women's Sports Hall of Fame. Henderson, one of the most dominant strikeout pitchers in NCAA history, rewrote the UMass record book in her four seasons on the mound. A three-time All-America selection, Henderson was a four-time All-Atlantic 10 selection and a four-time A-10 Tournament Most Outstanding Player. Henderson capped her brilliant UMass career in 1999 by winning the Honda Award, given annually to the nation's top softball player. During the summer of that year, Henderson competed as part of the U.S. National Team that captured the gold medal at the Pan American Games and the Canada Cup. The holder of 25 school records, Henderson finished her career second all-time on the NCAA's strikeout list with 1,343 in her four-year career. The nation's leader in strikeouts per seven innings in both 1998 and 1999, Henderson completed her career with two of the top 10 strikeout seasons, with 465 K's in 1999, which ranks fourth, and 430 strikeouts in 1998, which ranks sixth. In 1999, Henderson set a new NCAA record for consecutive scoreless innings, stretching out 105 scoreless frames from March 16-May 2. She also reeled off a 26-game win streak (Feb. 27-May 21), which ranks as the seventh-best streak in NCAA history. In her four-year career, she posted a 108-35 record in 161 appearances (964 innings), a 0.70 ERA, 72 shutouts, 135 complete games, and threw an astounding 14 no-hitters and three perfect games. She ranks in the top 20 in NCAA history in strikeouts, games, innings, starts, complete games, victories, strikeout ratio and shutouts. In 2001, Henderson was recognized for her accomplishments by becoming the first player in UMass softball history to have her jersey retired. A native of Commack, N.Y., she earned her bachelor's degree in Sport Management from UMass in the spring of 1999. Henderson is single and currently resides in Amherst, Mass. |
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