University of Massachusets Athletics
Women's Basketball Returns From Three-Week Lay-Off Friday In The Atlanta Marriott Northwest Holiday Invitational
December 27, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 27, 2005
UMass Returns From Three-Week Lay-Off At The Atlanta Marriott Northwest Georgia Tech Holiday Invitational
• Massachusetts (2-7) is set to face Brown (3-5) Friday at 3:00 PM in the first round of the Atlanta Marriott Northwest Georgia Tech Holiday Invitational.
• This marks the first game for the Minutewomen in three weeks since it last dropped an 81-76 decision Dec. 10 at Syracuse.
• The Minutewomen are looking to snap a season-long four-game losing streak and close out 2005 on a positive note.
• Under Head Coach Marnie Dacko, UMass has posted a 3-7 record during in-season tournaments.
• The winner of the UMass/Brown game will face the winner of the other game Georgia Tech (9-1) and Alabama State (2-4) game in Saturday's championship game at 1:30 PM. The two loser's will square off in the consolation game at 11:30 AM.
• This marks the first time that the Minutewomen have played a game in the city of Atlanta, but not the first game in the state of Georgia.
• UMass played a game at the University of Georgia in 2000-01.
Scouting The Bears
• Brown comes into the game against the Minutewomen with a 3-5 overall record. The Bears have lost two games in a row and five of the last seven.
• Brown is averaging 66.8 ppg while allowing 67.5 ppg. The Bears shoot 38 percent from the field, 35 percent from three-point range and 67 percent at the free throw line. They are getting out-rebounded, 43.6-37.2, and committing 16.5 turnovers a game.
• Sarah Hayes leads the team in scoring with 16.0 ppg and 6.6 rpg. Colleen Kelly is also in double-figures at 10.5 ppg.
The Series
• Friday's game marks the seventh all-time meeting between UMass and Brown. The Minutewomen are 6-0 in the series.
• The last time these two teams met was in the consolation game of the Coca-Cola Classic in Bridgeport, Conn., hosted by Fairfield on Nov. 30, 2003.
• UMass won that game 55-52.
• That game was the first meeting between these two teams since the 1995-96 season.
Scouting The Rest Of The Field
• Host-school Georgia Tech and Alabama State round out the field for the Atlanta Marriott Northwest Georgia Tech Holiday Invitational.
• The Yellow Jackets are 9-1 so far in 2005-06 with their only loss coming to 17th-ranked Georgia earlier this month.
• Stephanie Higgs leads the team in scoring at 12.2 ppg while Janie Mitchell has grabbed a team-high 6.8 rebounds a game.
• Georgia Tech is averaging 66.2 ppg while allowing 48.2 ppg. They are shooting 41 percent from the field, 31 percent from three-point range and 74 percent at the free throw line. The Yellow Jackets also hold a +10.1 edge on the boards (43.6-33.5).
• Alabama State comes into the game 2-4.
• UMass has never faced either Alabama State or Georgia Tech on the hard-wood.
Finally Breaking The Drought
• After failing to break the 50-point plateau for two consecutive games and four times in eight contests this year, UMass broke out for a season-high 76 points in the Dec. 10 loss at Syracuse.
• The 76 points were the most since the Minutewomen beat Toledo 76-56 on Dec. 6, 2004 at the Mullins Center.
The New Center
• Sophomore Whitney McDonald has started the last two games at center for the Minutewomen and turned in a pair of career outings.
• The Ossining, N.Y., native has averaged 9.0 ppg and 5.5 rpg in those two contests.
• In her first career start Dec. 8 at Boston College, McDonald had a career-high eight points.
• She then topped that performance with a career-high 10 points and seven rebounds Dec. 10 at Syracuse. McDonald had all 10 points in the first half on 5-for-6 shooting.
The New Sixth Man
• Since being taken out of the starting line-up five games ago, Kate Mills has responded nicely for the Minutewomen.
Mills started the Minutewomen's first four games of the year and averaged 9.3 ppg and 3.0 rpg. She shot 41 percent from the field and 67 percent from the free throw line in those games.
• In the last five games, Mills has come off the bench to average 13.6 ppg and 6.2 rpg. She has shot 57 percent from the field and 67 percent from the free throw line while also adding nine assists, four blocks and four steals.
• Mills posted her first career double-double in UMass' win over Siena Nov. 29. The sophomore from Elkton, Md., had career-highs of 15 points and 10 rebounds. She did this in only 23 minutes as she spent much of the game in foul trouble.
• She followed that up in the very next game with a career-high 22 points and eight boards in the Minutewomen's loss to Hofstra on Dec. 1. Mills scored 16 points in the second half on 6-for-9 shooting to help lead UMass back from a 16-point deficit. Down by a point, Mills saw her game-winning shot roll off the front of the rim with 2.9 seconds left.
• Mills came back with 20 points on a career-best 10-for-13 shooting at Syracuse Dec. 10. That marked her second 20-game performance in the last five games.
Good Shooting
• A pair of UMass sophomores rank among the league leaders in field goal percentage.
• Kate Mills is tied for third in the league shooting at en even 50 percent from the field. She is 45-for-90 from the field.
• Pam Rosanio is 12th in the conference converting at a 41-percent rate from the field.
Picking Right Up Where She Left Off
• UMass sophomore swing player Pam Rosanio picked right up where she left off from last season.
• The Southampton, Pa., native is averaging a team-high 13.9 ppg this season and reached double-figures in all but two games this year.
• Rosanio currently ranks 12th in the league in scoring.
• After pouring in a game-high 18 points against Delaware, Rosanio just missed her first career double-double against Holy Cross. She had a team-high 15 points and tied her career-high with nine rebounds against the Crusaders.
• Her season high is 19 points which she scored Nov. 29 against Siena and Dec. 10 at Syracuse.
• Rosanio, the Dinn Brothers/UMass Athlete of the Week on Nov. 21, has played in a team-high 35.3 minutes per game.
• Rosanio led the team in scoring as a freshman last year (10.9 ppg) and was selected by the A-10 coaches and media to the Preseason All-Conference second team.
Back To Back Double-Doubles
• UMass went the first four games of the season without a double-double, but saw a different player post a double-double in two straight games.
• Kate Mills posted her first career double-double Nov. 29 against Siena with a then-career-high 15 points and a career-high 10 boards.
• Tamara Tatham notched her fourth career double-double Dec. 1 against Hofstra with 13 points and a career-high tying 11 rebounds.
Younger Sister Getting In The Act As Well
• While Tamara Tatham has had a solid two-plus seasons in Amherst, her younger sister Alisha is beginning to make her presence felt.
• Alisha scored a career-high 11 points on Sunday against Holy Cross. She was 5-for-6 from the free throw line and made two clutch shots in the final few minutes of the Minutewomen's win.
• The Brampton, Ontario native is currently fifth on the team averaging 4.7 ppg.
• Alisha has spent the last couple of years playing on the Canadian Junior National team and was a starting captain this past summer.
Filling The Void
• One of the questions at the beginning of the season was how UMass would fill the shoes of Brooke Campbell on the boards. Well, junior Tamara Tatham has shown that she is a force on the boards.
• The Brampton, Ontario, native has pulled down a team-high 8.6 rpg in UMass' six games. This includes a career-high 12 boards Dec. 4 at New Hampshire.
• Tatham is tied for fifth in the A-10 on the glass.
• Pam Rosanio has also improved her production on the boards. Rosanio was averaging just 3.1 rpg heading into this season, but is third on the team with 4.9 rpg.
• Rosanio tied her career-high against Holy Cross Nov. 20 with nine rebounds and just missed her first career double-double as she also scored 15 points.
• Kate Mills is second on the team with 5.7 rpg.
Dishing It Out
• UMass had a season-high 23 assists on 34 field goals Dec. 10 at Syracuse.
• That was the most assists by the Minutewomen since breaking the school record with 28 against Toledo on Dec. 6, 2004, at the Mullins Center.
• Katie Nelson led the Minutewomen with six assists (and just one turnover) against the Orange. Alisha Tatham and Kate Mills dished out four helpers each.
• Nelson ranks 13th in the league dishing out 3.00 assists per game while her 1.23 assist to turnover ratio is eighth.
Nelson Breaks Three-Point Field Goals Attempted Record
• Redshirt senior point guard Katie Nelson is closing in on several records.
• Nelson currently ranks second all-time with 165 three-point field goals made. That is 14 trifectas behind Beth Kuzmeski who is the all-time leader.
• With five three-pointers attempted against Siena Nov. 29, Nelson broke the all-time school record. She now has now taken 541 trifectas. Kuzmeski has the second-most with 518.
• In addition, Nelson has a career .305 three-point field goal percentage. That is currently 12th-best in UMass history.
• Nelson also ranks seventh in school history with 299 career assists, while her 1.4 assist to turnover ratio ranks first all-time at UMass.
• Nelson, whose father is the head men's basketball coach at Johns Hopkins University (Md.), is currently 24th all-time at UMass with 740 career points.
Moving Up
• Junior Tamara Tatham has had two very solid seasons thus far as a Minutewoman and is now 33nd on the all-time chart in scoring.
• Tatham has 602 points and her 9.1 ppg average in her career is 20th-best on the all-time scoring average chart.
• In addition, Tatham is 14th in school history with 40 blocked shots.
• Tatham spent this past summer training with the Canadian National Development team and participated in the World University Games in Izmir, Turkey.
Love That Home Cookin'
• UMass has now won 24 of its last 40 home games (.600). This includes 11 of the last 15 (.733) non-conference tilts on its home floor.