University of Massachusets Athletics
Minutewomen Host Duquesne on Senior Day
March 01, 2003 | Women's Basketball
March 1, 2003
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Game Day... Massachusetts, which snapped its five-game losing streak with a 64-51 win over Fordham at the Mullins Center Thursday night, hosts Duquesne this afternoon on Senior Day. The Minutewomen are currently in a third-place tie Fordham in the A-10 East with a 5-10 record. UMass is back to .500 at 13-13 overall as well after Thursday's victory. With a win this afternoon and a Fordham loss to Temple, UMass can clinch the third seed in the East for next week's A-10 Tournament. The Rams and Owls will tip at 2:00 p.m. this afternoon in the Bronx. Duquesne is 14-12 overall and 7-8 in A-10 play, good for a fourth-place tie in the West. UMass leads the all-time series with the Dukes, 18-13, including a 12-2 mark at home and 5-0 in the Mullins Center. Duquesne has won two in a row in the series, but UMass has won four of six and six of the last 10.
Scouting The Dukes ... Duquesne enters this afternoon's game with a 14-12 overall record and a 7-8 mark in A-10 play, good for a fourth-place tie in the West Division. The Dukes are sixth in the A-10 averaging 62.2 ppg and 10th in the league in defense holding opponents to 66.2 ppg. They are pulling down 36.5 rpg and committing 20.4 turnovers a game.
Forward Beth Friday is seventh in the conference in scoring at 15.0 ppg. She is also second in the conference and 12th in the nation in rebounding, pulling down 10.8 boards a game. Guard Candace Futrell is averaging 18.9 ppg, but has not played in enough games to qualify for the league leaders. Guard Shiri Sharon is tops in the league and ranks ninth nationally dishing out 6.96 assists a game.
The Series ... Massachusetts leads the all-time series with the Dukes, 18-13, including a 12-2 mark at home and 5-0 in the Mullins Center. Duquesne has won two in a row in the series which dates back to the 1983-84 season, but UMass has won four of six and six of the last 10.
Last Game Against the Dukes ... Duquesne outscored visiting UMass 12-2, all from the free throw line, in the final seven minutes to capture a 60-47 win. Jen Butler poured in 12 points and pulled down an A.J. Palumbo Center-record 21 rebounds in the loss. Katie Nelson and Nekole Smith had seven points apiece, while Nelson dished out a team-high four assists. UMass ended up with more rebounds (50) than points (47) in the game. Candace Futrell led the Dukes with 16 points and eight rebounds.
The A-10 Queen Of The Glass ... In Thursday's 64-51 win over Fordham at the Mullins Center, senior Jen Butler became the Atlantic 10 Conference's all-time leading rebounder. With 19 boards against the Lady Rams, she now pulled down 708 boards in league games. The preseason first team All-Conference selection is leading the nation in rebounding with a 14.5 rpg average through 26 games this season.
Who Needs A Break? ... In its first nine games, Massachusetts was sitting pretty at 8-1, but Head Coach Marnie Dacko certainly regrets the two-week lay-off that the Minutewomen took prior to the State Farm Classic in Gainesville, Fla., Dec. 28-29. Since the two-week hiatus, Dacko's troops have gone just 5-12. During the 8-1 start, the Minutewomen averaged 64.2 ppg and allowed a mere 55.9 ppg, while spending much of the time ranked in the RPI top 10. Since then, however, the Minutewomen are scoring 60.3 ppg and allowing 62.0 ppg. In the first month of the season, the Minutewomen shot .412 (215-522) from the field and .675 (112-166) at the foul line, but have since connected at just a .377 (389-1033) rate from the field and a dismal .602 (265-432) at the charity stripe. In its 12 losses since the break, the Minutewomen have lost by an average score of 5.7 points, but two of those contests went into overtime, including one double-overtime affair.
She's Not A Thief ... With a season-high seven steals Feb. 13 at George Washington, Jen Butler became the school's all-time leader with 218 as she continues to rewrite the UMass record book. Butler has now amassed 234 thefts and is first in the A-10 this season averaging 2.42 spg. In conference games this year, she leads the way as well averaging 2.73 spg.
The Next 1,000-Point Scorer ... When senior Nekole Smith converted a lay-up, her eighth and ninth points of the game, at the 3:58 mark of the first half Jan. 18 against St. Bonaventure, she became the 14th Minutewoman to eclipse the 1,000-point plateau. Smith finished with 12 points in UMass' 70-48 win over the Bonnies and now has 1,133 for her career, good for ninth place on the all-time scorers list. The Ann Arbor, Mich., native is enjoying a break-out season as she is second on the team and 14th in the conference in scoring with a 13.4 ppg average. Smith entered the season averaging 8.9 ppg. She is also first on the team and 10th in the A-10, connecting at a .485 (144-297) clip from the floor. She currently sits in seventh place all-time with a career .480 (470-979) field goal percentage. On Jan. 12 at Fordham, Smith scored a career-high 23 points to lead all scorers and has tallied double figures all but six times this year.
Injury Update ... Sophomore Katie Nelson, who injured her knee Jan. 26 against Dayton, tried to return Feb. 13 at GW, but was forced to leave the game after playing just three minutes in the first half. She will miss the rest of the season and have surgery in the offseason. Junior Cleo Foster, who has been bothered with a stress fracture all season, will be out until the A-10 Tournament next week.
No. 1 D ... In 26 games this year, the Minutewomen are first in the Atlantic 10 yielding a mere 59.9 points per contest. They have held the opposition at or under 51 points on 11 occasions (Sacred Heart 48, Saint Peter's 49, Vermont 48, New Hampshire 50, Rhode Island 45, Villanova 50, Memphis 46, St. Bonaventure 48, La Salle 51, Temple 47 and Fordham 51), winning 10 games. The Minutewomen have held six schools to their season-low for points at the time of the game (Villanova, Saint Peter's, Sacred Heart, Vermont, Rhode Island and La Salle, which tied its low mark). On Feb. 13, the Minutewomen held GW, the conference's top scoring team (72.2 ppg) to 65 points, 55 in regulation.
Tops On The Boards ... Through Feb. 26, the Minutewomen lead the conference in rebounding, pulling down 40.7 boards per game. Massachusetts' +6.3 rebounding margin is also tops in the A-10 and ranks 28th nationally.
Increasing Attendance ... The early success that the Minutewomen enjoyed this season is showing at the box office. In the 66-51 win over La Salle on Feb. 2, a season-high 931 fans came through the Mullins Center turnstiles. That was the highest UMass home attendance since 1,170 fans witnessed a 66-42 win over Fordham on Feb. 24, 2000. For the year, Massachusetts is averaging 682 fans per home game. That is nearly a 150 percent increase over last year's season average of 456 fans a game. The Minutewomen have played before more than 2,000 fans twice this year (at Xavier and at Florida).
30/20 Vision ... With a 21-point, 19-rebound effort in the Feb. 27, 64-51 homecourt win over Fordham, Jen Butler posted her Atlantic 10-leading 22nd double-double this season. The senior All-America candidate has already recorded three 30-plus point games and has grabbed at least 20 rebounds on four separate occasions. She has been named the A-10 Player of the Week and Dinn Brothers/UMass Athlete of the Week three times this year.
Getting To The Line ... All season long, UMass Head Coach Marnie Dacko has been preaching the team's need to get to the line. In the 68-60 loss at Dayton Jan. 26, Massachusetts made just one trip to the free throw line. With the exception of senior Nekole Smith converting on an old-fashioned three-point play at the 16:38 mark of the first half, UMass did not go to the free throw line despite getting the ball to the post nearly every possession down the floor. The one trip to the charity stripe tied for the fewest ever in a conference game. On Feb. 3, 2000, Rhode Island was 0-1 from the line against Saint Joseph's. In the 64-51 win over Fordham, Massachusetts made 39 trips to the charity stripe, converting 24 (.615). It was UMass' most visits to the charity stripe since taking 40 attempts vs. St. Bonaventure on Feb. 10, 2002.
The Minutewomen started the season red-hot at the line, but have since struggled and now find themselves last in the league with a .629 (283-450) percentage. The Minutewomen are a dismal .606 (154-254) from the line in conference play. During its 8-1 start to the season, UMass shot .675 (112-166) at the charity stripe.
Passing's The Name Of The Game ... Massachusetts currently ranks fourth in the conference averaging 15.65 assists per game. The Minutewomen, who average 23.23 field goals per game, record an assist 67 percent of the time. Ebony Pegues is fifth in the league handing out 4.48 helpers a game. The Minutewomen are averaging 16.3 apg in wins and 14.9 apg in losses, but are 5-1 when recording at least 19 helpers. In the first nine games of the season, in which UMass went 8-1, it had 14.9 apg. In the 17 games since then, it has recorded 16.1 apg, but gone 5-12 over that stretch.
Balance Out Those Miscues ... Massachusetts may turn the ball over a lot (16.7 to/g), but it can sure balance those out with assists. The Minutewomen rank fourth in the league with a 0.94 assist to turnover ratio.
Home Sweet Home ... This year, it has seemed like the Minutewomen are a different team away from the Mullins Center. UMass has posted a 9-3 mark at home this year and is averaging 64.5 ppg at home, while allowing opponents to score just 57.2. On the road, however, UMass is scoring just 59.2 ppg and allowing 62.2. Massachusetts is shooting .411 (293-713) from the field at home, over 40 points ahead of what it shoots on the road.
No Blowouts Here ... No one can say that the Minutewomen are not in ball games this season. Out of its 13 losses thus far, UMass has had a lead or been tied in the second half 11 times. Massachusetts has jumped out to at least a four-point lead by halftime seven times as well and has held double-digit advantages on three occasions. During UMass' recent streak in which it had lost eight of nine games, the Minutewomen jumped out to quick leads eight times. UMass led Xavier, 26-19 midway through the first half Jan. 24, but the Musketeers fought back to tie it at halftime. Two days later at Dayton, UMass went on top 15-5, 3:57 into the game, but the Flyers went into the locker room up by two. Jan. 30 against URI, the Minutewomen were up 9-3, but the Rams came charging back and led by six points at halftime. On Feb. 20 at Saint Joseph's, UMass led 11-5 early in the first half only to see the Hawks come back and tie it at halftime. Then three days later at Temple, UMass enjoyed a lead for all but 46 seconds of the first half, but went into the locker room down two.
UMass went to the State Farm Classic in Gainesville, Fla. Dec. 28-29, with an 8-1 record, but lost two tough games to Florida and Michigan. The Minutewomen blew a 15-point first half lead against the Gators and were up by 14 at the half against Michigan. Feb. 9 at St. Bonaventure, the Minutewomen cut a 12-point Bonnies lead to a point at the 9:43 mark of the second half, but missed an opportunity to take the lead on four consecutive possessions and eventually lost by six points. On Feb. 13, in our nation's capital, the Minutewomen overcame a 10-point halftime deficit at George Washington and had a late lead only to lose in overtime. The Minutewomen were up two points with under four minutes left and had several chances to go up by two possessions, but were plagued by turnovers. On Feb. 16 at home against Richmond, Massachusetts led by as many as seven points in the second half, but a 13-0 run by the Spiders late in the game handed UMass its eighth conference loss. The Minutewomen went 6:47 all told in the final nine minutes without a point.
Breakout Game ... With guard Ebony Pegues sitting on the bench for the entire Saint Joseph's game due to a coaches decision, sophomore Monique Govan delivered a career-high 13 points on 6-12 shooting while playing all 40 minutes at the point. She also dished out four assists and had three steals. Govan, who has started each game since making her ninth career start against the Hawks, is averaging 2.5 ppg this season.
Road Woes ... Massachusetts, which has recorded a 4-10 record away from the Mullins Center this year, has not won on the road since Dec. 9 at Rhode Island, a string of eight games. The Minutewomen started off the season winning four of their first five away from Amherst. UMass averages just 59.2 ppg on the road, shoots .369 (311-842) from the field, .251 (58-231) from three-point range and .659 (149-226) at the free throw line.
Last Time Out ... The University of Massachusetts women's basketball team (13-13, 5-10) used a 17-2 run midway through the game to defeat Fordham (14-14, 5-10), 64-51, Feb. 27, in Atlantic 10 action at the Mullins Center. Senior Jen Butler scored a game-high 21 points. She also pulled down 19 rebounds to become the conference's all-time leader with 708 boards in A-10 play.
The Minutewomen trailed 25-14 at the 5:55 mark of the first half, but went on a 17-2 run extending into the second half. Massachusetts tied the game just before intermission on a lay-up by senior Nekole Smith. UMass then took the lead for good when Butler converted on an old-fashioned three-point play on its first second half possession.
After UMass built a six-point lead, 33-27, at the 15:59 mark of the second half, Fordham scored two quick baskets to pull within two. The Minutewomen responded with a 7-0 run of its own. The knock-out punch proved to be a three-pointer by senior Ebony Pegues followed by a Butler basket stretching the lead from six to 11 (48-37) and forcing the Lady Rams to use a timeout at the 7:51 mark. Fordham never got any closer than six points the rest of the way.
In addition to her 22nd double-double of the season, Butler had five steals, two assists, one blocked shot and did not commit a turnover. Smith chipped in 14 points and six boards, while Pegues had eight points off the bench. Sophomore Monique Govan and junior Judit Zsedenyi each had seven points and four rebounds in the victory. UMass outscored the Lady Rams, 40-15 in the paint and held the edge in rebounding, 43-40. After committing eight turnovers in the first half, UMass had just one in the second to finish with nine. The Minutewomen were 24-39 (.615) from the free throw line, while Fordham made just seven trips all night (5-7). Mobolaji Akiode led the way for Fordham with 16 points. Monica Mack and Beth Ann Dickinson each had 11 in the loss. All of Dickinson's scoring came in the first half.
Marnie's Army Leader ... At 8-1, Massachusetts Head Coach Marnie Dacko enjoyed the best start of any UMass coach in their first season at the helm, not to mention the second-best start of any UMass team in the program's history as the 1968-69 team, which started 9-0, did not have a coach. When the Minutewomen downed Sacred Heart, 74-48 on Nov. 22, Dacko became the seventh head coach out of nine in the program's history to win their first game on the UMass bench. The 1978 Southern Connecticut State University graduate is currently 13-13 (.500) at UMass and 93-117 (.443) overall in seven-plus seasons as a head coach.
What's On Tap ... Massachusetts will head down to Kingston, R.I., for the Atlantic 10 Championship, March 6-8. UMass will play a first-round game as either the No. 3 or 4 seed in the East on Thursday, March 6. The quarterfinals will take place on Friday, March 7, while the semifinals are slated for Saturday, March 8 on the Atlantic 10 Television Network. The championship game is set for Monday, March 10, on the floor of the highest remaining seed and will be televised by ESPN 2.