Nov. 27, 2007
AMHERST, Mass. -
The UMass women's basketball team (2-3) hits the road for a mid-week road game at Boston University (4-2) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Both teams are coming off Holiday weekend tournaments in North Carolina. UMass will be looking to end a three-game losing skid that included losses at the Lady Pirate Invitational to Jacksonville and host East Carolina. The Terriers went 1-1 at the UNC-Greensboro Tournament, defeating the host Spartans and losing to North Carolina A&T.
BROADCAST INFO
The game will be carried on WMUA 91.1 FM and on UMassAthletics.com with Mike Walsh and Zach Claudio calling the action.
LAST TIME OUT
The Minutewomen traveled south over the Thanksgiving weekend, playing at the East Carolina Lady Pirate Invitational in Greenville, N.C. On Friday, UMass fell to the Jacksonville Dolphins, 72-68, in their first round match-up before losing, 66-51, to East Carolina on Saturday.
VS. JACKSONVILLE
Kate Mills scored a team-high 22 points, despite being limited to only 25 minutes due to foul trouble. She shot 9-of-11 from the field, including 2-of-2 from three-point range.
Pam Rosanio netted 20 points, shooting 6-of-9 and going a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line.
Sakera Young dished out a season-high eight assists.
UMass committed a season-high 27 turnovers, while forcing 21 from Jacksonville.
The Minutewomen outshot Jacksonville, 53.2% to 37.1%, but the Dolphins won the battle on the boards, 38-30, and made seven three-pointers to UMass' three.
JU guard Ashley Williams scored a game-high 28 points.
VS. EAST CAROLINA
Kate Mills and Pam Rosanio scored 13 points each to lead UMass.
Freshman forward Teya Wright grabbed seven rebounds and had four steals in 16 minutes of play.
Sakera Young had seven assists to give her 15 over the tournament's two days.
ECU used a 16-0 second half run over 5:55 to take control of what was a close game.
Pirates point guard Jasmine Young recorded a double-double with 18 points and 10 assists.
SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 20th time the two schools have met. UMass holds a 10-9 edge. The teams have not faced each other since 1993, as all 19 previous games took place between 1977 and 1993.
On 3/2/93, UMass defeated the Terriers, 63-56.
SCOUTING BOSTON UNIVERSITY
The Terriers come into Wednesday's game sporting a 4-2 record after splitting a pair of games at the UNC-Greensboro Tournament over the weekend. In the opener, they defeated the host Spartans, 69-42, and then fell in the finals to North Carolina A&T, 62-54. BU's other loss was at Ohio State on Nov. 17. Its other wins have come against Siena, Rhode Island, and Northeastern.
The Terriers have a balanced scoring attack with four players averaging in double-figures. The frontcourt of 6-3 senior Kasey Devine (13.7 ppg, 6.2 rpg,), 6-1 junior Jesyka Burks-Wiley (13.3 ppg, 6.8 rpg), and 6-1 sophomore Aly Hinton (10.8 ppg, 4.7 rpg) lead the offense.
Senior guard Cheri Raffo averages 10.5 points per game, and junior point guard Christine Kinneary averages 7.3 assists per game.
BU is an accurate shooting team with a .446 (152-341) field goal percentage and a .365 (35-96) three-point shooting percentage.
The Terriers are deadly accurate from the free throw line, making 85.3 percent (93-109) of their attempts from the charity stripe.
Kelly Greenberg is in her fourth year coaching BU. The La Salle ('89) graduate is in her 17th year coaching at the Division I level. She was previously a head coach at Penn for five seasons, leading the Quakers to two NCAA appearances.
PLAYING TEAM BASKETBALL
A good sign of team basketball is high assist numbers and UMass has certainly achieved that this year. The Minutewomen rank first in the A-10 averaging 17.2 assists a game. The next closest in the conference, Duquesne, averages 16.8 per game.
In five games this season junior point guard Sakera Young leads the way with 5.2 assists per game (26). Kate Mills is second on the team with 13, while Pam Rosanio and Alisha Tatham each have 12.
The Minutewomen recorded an assist on 69 percent of their baskets last year.
So far this season they are on almost the same pace, with 86 assists on 127 field goals (68%).
SHARP SHOOTERS
The Minutewomen boast the top field goal percentage in the Atlantic 10 thus far in 2007-08 with a .449 (127-276) mark.
Four of the top-12 field goal percentages in the A-10 are owned by Minutewomen. Kate Mills leads the conference with a .577 (41-71) mark. Stefanie Gerardot is seventh at .533 (16-30). Alisha Tatham is 11th at .515 (17-33) and Pam Rosanio is 12th at .491 (26-53). No other team has more than two in the top dozen (Dayton).
UMass shooters also have put up the conference's top two shooting performances of the season thus far. Kate Mills' 9-for-11 shooting display in her 22-point game versus Jacksonville on Nov. 23 was the best percentage in a game this season (.818). Stefanie Gerardot shot 8-of-10 in UMass' home victory over Boston College on Nov. 14 on the way to her career-high 20 points.
Pam Rosanio is tied with three players for the best performance from the free throw line in a game this season. She was a perfect 8-of-8 versus Jacksonville on Nov. 23 when she finished with 20 points.
UMass was one of the top shooting teams in the league last season. The Minutewomen finished second in the A-10 shooting 44 percent from the field and were just .005 points behind first-place Temple.
Kate Mills led the league in 2006-07, shooting .538 from the floor (193-of-359).
MILLS LEADING THE WAY
So far in 2007-08, Kate Mills is picking up right where she left off last season, when she eclipsed 1,000 career-points in the season finale. This season she leads the team in scoring (18.2 ppg), blocks (12), and minutes (34.2 per game).
Mills scored 22 points vs. Jacksonville on Friday while playing only 25 minutes due to foul trouble.
Mills tied her career-high with 28 points at Northeastern on Nov. 17 and was named Atlantic 10 Co-Player of the Week for that week, along with La Salle's Carlene Hightower.
"Kate has grown every year, grown into a leadership role, and grown into really making this her team," said Coach Dacko. "She has been our go-to player. Kate is probably the best perimeter shooter we have as well as the best percentage-wise. Our game is inside-outside, so Kate gets the ball every time down the floor and it's her decision to take it or dish it out. She is also a real stabilizing factor for us defensively."
ROSANIO DOING IT ALL
Now in her senior season, Pam Rosanio continues to be a leader in the backcourt. The Southampton, Pa. native has finished in the top-three on the team in scoring in her first three seasons. She was also named Second Team All-Conference two of those years.
Rosanio is second on the team in scoring at 16.2 points per game and tied for first in rebounding at 5.2 per game. She is second in minutes with 31.8 per game and tied for third in assists with 12.
In Saturday's game at East Carolina, Rosanio logged her 3,000th minute played for UMass. She is the 15th player in school history to reach that plateau and now sits in 13th all-time with 3,028. The last UMass player to eclipse that mark was Tamara Tatham last season (3,509/7th).
Rosanio scored a career-high 25 points versus Vermont on Nov. 9 to become the 17th player in UMass history to reach 1,000.
"When it comes to Pam, I look at her hustle. She's always the first one down the floor and the first one on the break," said Coach Dacko. "She's worked hard at her game, trying to get other opportunities and finding ways to score off the perimeter using screens. Pam's worked on playing effective defense and being able to create some shots for other people. I think she's really going to have an outstanding year."
SAKERA AT THE POINT
Point guard Sakera Young totaled 15 assists over the weekend to give her 26 for the season. Her average of 5.2 per game places her third in the conference.
Young's assist to turnover ratio of 2.6 (26 assists, 10 turnovers) is the second-best in the A-10 (Kara Cloxton, Dayton).
In the season-opening win vs. Vermont, Young sank two free throws with four seconds left to put UMass up three and help seal the victory for the Minutewomen.
"Sakera is growing by leaps and bounds," Coach Dacko said. "She is becoming more vocal and becoming a leader. She brings us speed and is explosive. Sakera is seeing the floor much better. Her timing has gotten much better and her decision-making has improved."
STARTING TO GET IT WRIGHT
Freshman forward Teya Wright continues to get more minutes coming off the bench for UMass.
The Paterson, N.J. native played 13 minutes on Friday versus Jacksonville, tallying five points, three rebounds, and a block.
Against ECU, Wright grabbed seven boards and four steals.
She set career-highs in minutes (23), points (11), and rebounds (9) on Nov. 17 at Northeastern.
"Teya is an outstanding athlete," Dacko said. "She is very gifted. She has a quick release when she's posting up and can get the ball into the bucket. She has a real nose for the basketball and fills the lane. Teya is strong in the post and is going to provide some defensive stability down low."
TATHAM ANSWERING THE CALL
Senior Alisha Tatham has been asked to take on a larger role this season and thus far has responded well. After averaging 25.5 minutes and 6.4 points per game in 2006-07, she is averaging 31.2 minutes and 9.0 points per game this season all while being a key figure on defense.
Tatham has tied her career-high with 14 points in back-to-back games vs. Boston College (11/14) and Northeastern (11/17).
"Alisha is one of the hardest workers I've ever coached in my life," said Dacko. "She brings a great deal of leadership and is a tremendous student-athlete. She is in incredible shape after traveling all over with Canada Basketball this summer. She is very passionate about basketball, her teammates, and her school."
THE BULLDOG'S A DEEP THREAT
Kim Benton, aka The Bulldog, is one of UMass' top three-point specialists and is looking to build upon a successful freshman season. Benton nailed 50 three's last year, the third highest total in school history, and shot .350 from long range.
Benton leads the team again this season with eight field goals from long range. In fact, the 5-5 guard has yet to take a shot from inside the arc this season in 26 attempts.
She's not only a shooter however, her 11 assists is tied for third on the team.
"Kim understands the leadership role from the point guard position," Coach Dacko said. "She is a great shooter, but she's not someone who we want to just take outside shots. She has worked on finding other ways to score and helping her teammates score. Defensively, Kim has got to be able to really control the top of the perimeter for us to be successful."
Benton got her career-high of 18 points on Feb. 11 against Rhode Island. She set a new UMass Mullins Center record with six three-pointers. The previous record was four by several players.
WELCOME TO THE CLUB
Pam Rosanio joined select company in Nov. 9's season-opening win versus Vermont. She became the 17th player in UMass history to reach the 1,000-point mark. She ended last season with 988 and poured in a career-high 25 in the 69-68 victory.
The last UMass player to reach the 1,000-point plateau was fellow-senior Kate Mills. She reached the mark just last season, in the finale versus St. Bonaventure. Now in their fourth season playing together, Mills (1,084) sits just ahead of Rosanio (1,059) in career points.
The pair continue to climb up UMass' all-time scoring list. Mills is currently 14th and Rosanio sits 15th in career points.
Mills is just 11 points behind Helen Freeman for 13th on the career-scoring list. Freeman was a 6-2 center that played 1986-90.
MILLS NAMED TO A-10 PRESEASON TEAM
Prior to the start of the 2007-08 season, senior forward Kate Mills was named to the Atlantic 10 Preseason All-Conference Second Team as voted on by the league's coaches and media.
Mills, a Third-Team All-Conference selection at the conclusion of last season, was UMass' leading scorer averaging 16.1 points per game. She also led the club in field goal percentage (.538), free throw percentage (.819), and blocks (64). She finished second on the team in minutes (1004) and rebounds (6.9 per game). Her field goal percentage was also tops in the A-10, while her blocks total was good for second in the conference. In all, Mills finished in the top 15 in the conference in seven individual statistical categories. She recorded her 1000th career point, becoming the 16th player in school history to do so, on March 2 versus St. Bonaventure.
UMASS PICKED TO FINISH 7TH IN ATLANTIC 10 PRESEASON COACHES/MEDIA POLL
The Minutewomen were picked to finish seventh in the A-10 Coaches/Media Poll among the 14-team conference earlier this season. George Washington, the 2006-07 A-10 champ, was unanimously picked to repeat.
Xavier and Charlotte tied in votes for second. They finished third and fourth, respectively, last season. Temple was predicted to drop from second to fourth place while Saint Joseph's slipped from fifth to sixth. Richmond was picked to move up from a three-way tie with UMass and La Salle in 2006-07 to fifth this season.
NEXT GAME: VS. HARTFORD
The Minutewomen return to the Mullins Center on Saturday when they host Hartford in a 2 p.m. game. UMass will be looking to improve to 3-0 on Jack Leaman Court this season.
The game will be carried on WMUA 91.1 FM and on UMassAthletics.com with live streaming video on UMass All-Access.
