University of Massachusets Athletics
Women's Basketball Hits The Road Again
December 06, 2002 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 6, 2002
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Game Day Information
What: Massachusetts (4-1) at New Hampshire (2-2)
Where: Lundholm Gymnasium (3,500) * Durham, N.H.
When: Saturday, Dec. 7, 2002 * 1:00 p.m.
TV: None
Radio: Regan McKendry (play-by-play) & Lizzy Nielsen (color).
Game Day... Massachusetts will be looking for pay-back as it travels north to face America East foe New Hampshire Saturday afternoon. Last season, UNH handed the Minutewomen a 66-44 loss at the Mullins Center on Dec. 13, 2001. Massachusetts is now 4-1 following a 53-48 come-from-behind victory over previously undefeated Vermont Wednesday night at the Mullins Center. At 4-1, UMass is off to its best start since the 1993-94 team started 4-1 en route to a 14-14 finish. The Minutewomen are 17-14 all-time against the Wildcats. UNH is currently 2-2 following its 90-60 set-back at Georgetown Wednesday night.
Impressive Start ... When the Minutewomen downed Sacred Heart, 74-48 on Nov. 22, Marnie Dacko became the seventh head coach out of nine in the program's history to win their first game on the UMass bench. Of the seven, five have gone on to win at least their next game. Jane Farr (1972-73), Carol Albert (1974-75) and Jack Leaman (1986-87) all started 3-0, while Kathy Hewelt led the Minutewomen to a 5-0 start in the 1988-89 season.
Scouting The Wildcats ... New Hampshire is 2-2 this season. It dropped a 90-60 decision to Georgetown on Wednesday night. The Wildcats also lost to Marist, 59-51, on Nov. 26, and have defeated Manhattan, 47-43 (Nov. 22) and Dartmouth, 76-68 (Nov. 30). UNH has three players in double-figures, led by Maren Matthias, who is scoring 15.5 points per game and pulling down 9.6 rebounds a contest. Lindsay Adams is second on the team pouring in 10.8 points per game, while Geneva Livingston is third at 10.5 points per contest. The Wildcats average 58.5 points per game and are allowing their opponents to score 65.0 points per game. UMass Head Coach Marnie Dacko has never faced the Wildcats before. New Hampshire has won both of its games at home this season.
The Series ... Massachusetts leads the all-time series with New Hampshire, 17-14. The Wildcats used a strong second half to blow past the Minutewomen, 66-44, on Dec. 13, 2001 at the Mullins Center. UMass won the last game at UNH, 56-39, on Dec. 13, 2000. Overall, the Minutewomen are 3-8 at UNH.
Last Time Out ... New Hampshire outscored UMass 41-19 in the second half and turned a tie game into a rout, winning 66-44 on Dec. 13, 2001 at the Mullins Center. Then-UMass junior Jen Butler, who had amassed a double-double by halftime, finished with 15 points and 15 rebounds, as well as four blocked shots. Senior Caroline Nehls added nine points, while then-junior Ebony Pegues dished out five assists. Heidi Piencner poured in a game-high 17 points for the Wildcats. A complete box score is available in the back of this notes package.
Rage In The Cage ... Massachusetts has announced that it will play the Dec. 11 game vs. Villanova at the historic Curry Hicks Cage. It marks UMass' first game at the Cage since an 82-40 win over Temple on Feb. 18, 1995. Overall, the Minutewomen went 124-107 (.537) at the Cage. The first 500 fans will receive a free t-shirt and there will be raffles held throughout the game for prizes such as an X-Box video game system and various tickets to games involving Boston professional sports teams.
Foster's Contribution ... The Minutewomen are 2-0 since junior Cleo Foster moved into the starting line-up. In Wednesday's 53-48 win over Vermont at the Mullins Center, the Toronto, Ontario, native went 4-for-8 from the field en route to a career-high eight points in 25 minutes. She dished out four assists had two steals, while not committing a turnover. In addition, she grabbed four rebounds, including three on the offensive glass.
A Much Better Start ... At 4-1, UMass is off to its best start since the 1993-94 season, when it began 4-1 en route to a 14-14 finish. It was Jan. 21, before last year's team won its fourth game, a 58-49 victory at Rhode Island. The best start in school history belongs to the 1968-69 squad which began 9-1 and cruised to a 13-2 record in the program's first year.
A Look Back At The Vermont Win ... Seniors Ebony Pegues and Jen Butler combined to score nine unanswered points in the final 3:02 to erase a four-point deficit and give the University of Massachusetts women's basketball team (4-1) a 53-48 win over previously unbeaten Vermont (4-1) Dec. 4 at the Mullins Center. Butler's lay-up at the 1:48 mark tied the game at 48 apiece. On the other end of the floor, Pegues stole the ball and drove the length of the floor to put the Minutewomen up 50-48 with just 1:29 left. It was the first UMass lead since it held a 4-3 advantage at the 17:44 mark of the first half. The Minutewomen then stopped the Catamounts on defense and free throws by Pegues (1-2) and Butler (2-2) down the stretch secured UMass' fourth win of the season. In a sloppy first half, the Minutewomen shot just .233 (7-30) from the floor. They stepped it up on the defensive end, forcing 14 Vermont turnovers and trailed by just four points at the break, 22-18. The Minutewomen were down by as many as six points in the second half, but fought back to tie the score at 39 with 7:41 remaining in regulation. That is when the Catamounts went on a 6-0 run to regain the edge. Junior sharpshooter Judit Zsedenyi nailed a three-pointer at the 4:04 mark and senior Nekole Smith followed with a field goal, but a trey by Vermont's Theresa LaRocque gave it a four-point edge with just 3:02 to play. Zsedenyi has now made at least one trifecta in every game this year. Pegues finished with a team-high 13 points and added five assists, four rebounds and three steals. Butler, despite constant double- and triple-teams as well as foul trouble, still managed to post her fourth double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds, She also had four steals and was 7-for-7 from the free throw line. Junior Cleo Foster made her second consecutive start and scored a career-high eight points and four assists, while not committing a turnover. UMass forced 22 Vermont turnovers, while committing just 10 of its own. The Minutewomen out-scored the Catamounts in the paint, 32-19, but were out-rebounded, 39-37.
One Half-Team ... In three of their four wins this season, the Minutewomen have relied on solid play in one half to carry them to victory. In a 52-49 win at Saint Peter's on Nov. 25, the Minutewomen overcame a 10-point second half deficit for the win. They shot just .226 (7-31) in the first half and went span of 9:42 without registering a single point. On Dec. 1, the Minutewomen used runs of 14-1 to start the game and 19-0 later in the first half to take 41-16 halftime lead at Toledo, but had to hang on for dear life in the second half to secure the 73-61 victory. The Minutewomen were caught in a deluge of Rocket three-pointers in the second half, but prevailed in the end. Toledo attempted 33 trifectas, converting 13 of them (.394), including 9-15 (.600) in the second half. In the win over Vermont, the Minutewomen used a late second half surge for the win. Ebony Pegues and Jen Butler scored nine unanswered points in the final three minutes of the contest to erase a four-point deficit and give the Minutewomen their fourth win in five games. UMass' 50-48 lead at the 1:29 was its first advantage since it was 4-3 at the 17:44 mark of the first half, but it held on.
Injury Update ... Senior forward Siiri Liivandi suffered an injury during last week's trip to Michigan and Toledo. Due to the Health Information Privacy Act (HIPA), the University of Massachusetts does not reveal injury information about its student-athletes. She will likely be out at least one month.
All-Conference Team ... After being the only player in the Atlantic 10 to average a double-double in 2001-02, senior center Jennifer Butler was named a first team preseason All-Conference selection in a poll conducted by league coaches. The Brooklyn, N.Y., native averaged 13.2 ppg and 11.8 rpg a year ago. She was also selected to the A-10 preseason All-Defensive team. Her rebounding figure led the conference and ranked fifth nationally (second among 2002-03 returnees a year ago). Additionally last season, Butler became just the 13th player in Massachusetts history to eclipse the 1,000-point plateau with her seven-point performance against Temple in the Atlantic 10 semifinals. Jen was a second team All-Conference and All-Defensive team pick a year ago. So far this year, Butler is averaging 13.8 points, 14.0 rebounds and 2.20 steals per game. She is currently first in the Atlantic 10 in rebounding.
Downtown Zsedenyi ... Cottey (Mo.) Junior College transfer Judit Zsedenyi has now made at least one three-pointer in each of UMass' five games this season. Against Michigan, the Budapest, Hungary, native connected on two trifectas for a career-high six points. She also set a new career-high pulling down three boards against Vermont, Dec. 4. She also made her first career two-pointer and pulled down a career-high three rebounds in the game against the Catamounts. She is averaging 19.8 minutes per game this season, to go with 4.0 ppg.
RPI/Strength of Schedule ... In the latest WBCA/Summerville RPI ranking released Dec. 1, the Minutewomen are ranked 22nd out of 324 Division I institutions. Massachusetts' schedule has been ranked as the nation's 78th toughest, but this only factors in games that have been played and does not take future opponents into consideration. According to CollegeRPI.com, UMass is ranked seventh in the RPI. The RPI is a measure of strength of schedule and how a team does against that schedule. It does not consider things like margin of victory or where a game is played, only whether or not a team won. It is used by the NCAA as one of their factors in deciding which teams to invite to the NCAA Tournament and where to seed them. The basic formula is 25% team winning percentage (WP), 50% opponents' average winning percentage (OWP), and 25% opponents' opponents' average winning percentage (OOWP).
What Sophomore Jinx? ... Sophomore point guard Katie Nelson showed last year as a freshman that she was not afraid to pull the trigger from downtown. The Ellicott City, Md., native made 50 three-point field goals, good for second-place on the school's single-season list. Her 167 three-point attempts were the most in a single-season. Nelson continues to climb the charts as she now sits in eighth-place in three-point field goals made (60), sixth in three-point field goals attempted (201) and 11th in three-point field goal percentage (.299). After being held to just four points on 1-of-13 shooting, including 1-for-11 from behind the arc last week against Michigan, Nelson bounced back to light up Toledo for 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting with 12 of those points coming in the first half. Her 2.00 three-point field goal average is good for fifth in the A-10.
Butler Movin' On Up ... Senior Jen Butler, who is already the school's all-time leading rebounder, is just 14 rebounds shy of joining the prestigous 1,000/1,000 club. She is currently 11th on the all-time scoring list with 1,070 points and now has 986 rebounds. Last season, she became the 13th Minutewoman to eclipse the 1,000-point plateau. Butler's name is all over the school record book as she is sixth in free throws made (266), third in free throws attempted (503), fourth in blocks (107) and fourth in steals (182). Next up on the scoring list is Helen Freeman. The 1990 graduate is in 10th place with 1,105 career points. The preseason first team All-Conference selection has recorded a double-double in four of five games this season and now has 45 in her career.
Steppin' Up The D ... In five games this year, the Minutewomen are yielding a mere 59.4 points per contest. They have held the opposition under 50 points on three occasions (Sacred Heart 48, Saint Peter's 49 and Vermont 48), winning each game. In UMass' four wins, opponents are averaging 51.5 points. Vermont came into the Mullins Center on Dec. 4 averaging 71.0 points per game, but was held to a season-low 48 by the Minutewomen. UMass is also forcing its opponents to turn the ball over 17.8 times per game, but that number balloons to nearly 20 per game in its four victories.
She Can Dish It Out ... Sophomore guard Katie Nelson is currently fourth in the conference with a 1.70 assist to turnover ratio. She has already dished out a career-high seven assists against both Sacred Heart and Michigan. Last year, she averaged 3.07 assists per game, good for 13th in the Atlantic 10. Through five games in 2002-03, Nelson sits in 13th-place in the A-10, averaging 3.40 assists per game.
The Coaches ... Massachusetts Head Coach Marnie Dacko won her opening game against Sacred Heart becoming the seventh head coach in the program's history to win their debut. Dacko is the ninth head coach in Massachusetts history. She won her second game against Saint Peter's and is now just the fifth UMass coach to win at least two games to start their career in Amherst. Dacko is currently 4-1 (.800) at UMass and 84-105 (.444) overall. Dacko has never faced New Hampshire in her eight-plus seasons as a head coach.
One the other side, Sue Johnson is in her sixth season at New Hampshire. The 1986 Yale graduate is 72-71 (.503) in her five-plus seasons in Durham. Overall, Johnson is 2-1 against Massachusetts, but 0-1 in Durham.
What's On Tap ... The Minutewomen will head straight to Kingston, R.I., for a rare early-season A-10 clash with the University of Rhode Island Rams on Monday, Dec. 9, at 5:30 p.m. UMass will be the first Atlantic 10 team to play in the brand new, $54 million Ryan Center. The largest capitol project in the University's history, the Ryan Center will host the first three rounds of the A-10 Tournament, March 6-8.