University of Massachusets Athletics
Women's Basketball Opens Season This Weekend In Chicago
November 17, 2004 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 17, 2004
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Welcome To UMass Women's Basketball 2004-05
• The Minutewomen open up the 2004-05 season by participating in the Moran Realty Classic in Chicago, Ill.
• Massachusetts will play Southern California in the first game of the tournament Friday at 6:30 p.m. (Eastern). Host-school and 20th-ranked DePaul will play Murray State in the second game at 8:30 p.m.
• The losers of the first two games will meet in the consolation game on Saturday at 6:30, while the winners will face each other in the championship game at 8:30 p.m.
• After going 6-22 last season, head coach Marnie Dacko has a team which features seven players who did not play last year. In addition to the five freshmen, Katie Nelson (medical redshirt) and Patrycja Gulak (transfer) are expected to be in the line-up.
Minutewomen in season openers • This is the 37th season of UMass women's basketball and the Minutewomen are 16-20 overall in its season-openers, including a 7-9 mark on the road. The Minutewomen have lost seven straight games when they open the season on the road.
• Under Dacko, Massachusetts is 1-1 in its season openers. The Dacko era began with a 74-48 win over Sacred Heart at the Mullins Center on Nov. 22, 2002. The Pioneers then returned the favor with a 61-46 win last season on Nov. 21, 2003, in Connecticut.
• This is the sixth time that the Minutewomen have opened up the season with a tournament. UMass is just 2-8 in those games. Most recently, the Minutewomen participated in the Lady Kats Invitational in Lexington, Ky., hosted by the University of Kentucky. There, they lost to Kentucky and Eastern Michigan.
Scouting Southern California
• The University of Southern California comes to Chicago following a 15-13 record a year ago. The Women of Troy were 11-7 in the Pac-10 good for a third-place tie. They lost in the first round of the Pac-10 Tournament to Washington.
• Mark Trakh begins his first season at USC after leading Pepperdine to a 199-123 record in 11 seasons. The two-time West Coast Conference Coach of the Year inherits a team that returns one full-time starter and nine letterwinners.
• Guard Meghan Gnekow averaged 7.9 ppg, 5.5 rpg and 1.6 apg last year. Point guard Jamie Hagiya is second among returnees with 5.8 ppg and 2.6 apg, while 5-11 forward Eshaya Murphy is third with 5.7 ppg and 2.9 ppg.
UMass vs. USC
• This is the first meeting between Massachusetts and USC.
Scouting DePaul
• DePaul, host of the Moran Realty Classic, comes into the weekend ranked 20th in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today WBCA Top 25 polls. The Blue Demons finished last year with a 23-7 overall record. They were 10-4 in Conference USA play and finished in fourth place. DePaul advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before dropping a 79-59 decision to Tennessee.
• Doug Bruno is in his 19th season at DePaul and 21st overall. He has a 322-205 record at DePaul and 362-233 overall.
• The Blue Demons return all but four players from last year including the three top returning scorers. 6-2 forward Khara Smith averaged 20.4 ppg and 11.7 rpg a year ago and had 21 double-doubles. 5-8 guard/forward Charlene Smith had 17.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg and 3.3 apg last season while 5-10 guard/forward Jenni Dant had 14.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg and a .817 free throw percentage.
• DePaul is 27-1 at home the past two seasons including a 25-1 mark at the DePaul Athletic Center where the tournament will be played this weekend.
UMass vs. DePaul
• This could potentially be the first meeting between UMass and DePaul.
Scouting Murray State
• Murray State is also set to kick off the 2004-05 season following a 13-15 overall record last year. The Lady Racers were 9-7 in the Ohio Valley Conference last year which was good for a fifth-place tie.
• The Lady Racers return two starters and three other letterwinners from last season. 5-9 guard Rebecca Remington averaged 10.4 ppg and 3.2 rpg last year. She was a 39 percent shooter from three-point range. 6-1 forward/guard Kaleena Miller also started several games last year. She averaged 1.7 ppg and 4.4 rpg.
UMass vs. Murray State
• This could potentially be the first meeting between Massachusetts and Murray State.
Massachusetts picked fourth in the a-10 east • In voting conducted by coaches, UMass was picked to finish fourth in the Atlantic 10's East Division. In that same voting, senior Edris Bailey was selected to the preseason third-team All-Conference. In addition, freshman Alisha Tatham was named to the preseason All-Rookie team. Bailey averaged a team-high 11.4 ppg last year while grabbing 6.1 rpg.
Trying To Change It On The Road
• UMass has lost 21 of the last 22 games on the road. With a 66-64 win at Fordham Feb. 13, 2004, UMass snapped a school-record 19 game road losing streak. Their last win on the road had been over Rhode Island, 59-45, Dec. 9, 2002, at the Ryan Center. Prior to the streak, the Minutewomen had been victorious on seven of nine road or neutral site contests. UMass finished the 2003-04 season 1-13 on the road, but 2-1 in neutral site games. The previous record was a 17-game stretch without a win on the road and lasted from Jan. 23, 1989's 73-60 loss at Dartmouth to Feb. 3, 1990, a 78-74 win at Harvard.
Dacko Sitting On 100
• That 66-64 win at Fordham on Feb. 13, 2004, meant more than just snapping the longest road losing streak in school history. It marked career win number 100 for Marnie Dacko. Dacko became just the second coach in school history to reach this milestone. Joanie O'Brien went 159-159 in 11 seasons at the helm of Massachusetts from 1991-2002.
• Dacko is now 20-36 (.357) overall in two seasons since coming to UMass from Cornell. She is 100-140 (.417) overall when you factor in her seven seasons with the Big Red.
Nelson's Back
• Redshirt junior point guard Katie Nelson returns to the back court after sitting out last year following knee surgery.
• Prior to injuring her knee Jan. 26, 2003 at Dayton, Nelson had started in each of her 48 career games since arriving in Amherst. She averaged 37.1 minutes as a sophomore in 2002-03 and was the only member of either team to play in all 50 minutes of the Minutewomen's, 78-70, double-overtime loss to Florida in the State Farm Classic Dec. 28, 2002. Nelson red-shirted the 2003-04 season.
• Nelson, whose father William is the head men's basketball coach at Johns Hopkins (Md.) University, has already cracked the top five in three-point field goals made and attempted. Nelson currently ranks third all-time in school history with 296 attempts, while her 91 trifectas are good for fourth. Nelson also ranks 10th with a .307 percentage from behind the arc.
Depth At Last
• With 13 players on the roster to begin this year, Dacko can finally look down the bench and have some option to choose from.
• UMass returns 88 percent of its scoring from a year ago. Bailey led the team with 11.4 ppg last year and also pulled down 6.1 rpg. Prior to leaving the team in late January for personal reasons, Senior Brooke Campbell had 9.4 ppg and a team-high 7.4 rpg. Freshmen Tamara Tatham and Joyce Massey also contributed nicely with averages of 9.3 ppg/4.9 rpg and 6.0/1.9, respectively.
Gulak Can Play
• After sitting out last season due to NCAA transfer rules, redshirt junior Patrycja Gulak is poised to be a force in the paint this season. The native of Poland averaged 8.3 ppg and 4.8 rpg in two seasons with St. John's (N.Y.). She was a two-time Big East Conference All-Academic team member.
Meet The Freshmen
• Dacko and her staff are very excited about the five freshmen on the roster this year.
• 5-11 guard/forward Alisha Tatham is the sister of current sophomore Tamara. She averaged 25.0 ppg, 9.0 rpg and 4.0 steals last year for Chinguacousy (Ontario) High School. Tatham also led the Canadian Junior National Team to its first-ever appearance in next year's World Championship after claiming the bronze medal at this past summer's qualifying tournament.
• Rounding out Dacko's second recruiting class at UMass are 6-1 forward Kate Mills, 5-10 guard/forward Pam Rosanio, 6-2 forward/center Whitney McDonald and 5-7 point guard Kaylie Schiavetta.
• Mills averaged 13.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 4.0 assists and and two steals last year en route to honorable mention McDonald's All-American accolades. The Elkton, Md. Native scored 1,483 career points and hauled in 863 rebounds while being named the Delaware Gatorade Player of the Year.
• Rosanio holds the Archbishop Wood High School record for points (1,417) for both boys and girls. The three-time All-Catholic team member and native of Southampton, Pa., averaged 20 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals last year.
• McDonald averaged 21.4 points, 10.0 rebounds and two blocks per game last year at Ossining High School and was the Section I/Putnam Player of the Year. The Ossining, N.Y., product was a second-team All-State pick and poured in 1,236 career points.
• Schiavetta was a first-team All-State pick last year after averaging 23.5 points, seven assists and four rebounds per game at Northport High School in Northport, N.Y. She was the Newsday Suffolk Player of the Year and a first-team All-Long Island pick. She scored 1,387 career points and was a four-time All-County and All-Section pick.
The Peach Is A Sharp-Shooter
• Ashley "The Peach" Sharpton is healthy this season and will be counted upon to give the Minutewomen a lift from downtown. The Conyers, Ga., native was a 40 percent shooter from three-point range last year which would have ranked among the conference's leaders if she had enough minutes to qualify. Sharpton played just 14 games and was hampered by an ankle injury.
Home Cookin'
• While it has won just one road game in nearly 23 months, the Maroon & White have won 15 of the last 25 games on its home floor including seven of the past eight non-conference tilts. UMass finished with a a 3-8 home record last year.
Trying To Change It On The Line
• Massachusetts ranked dead-last in the A-10 and 318th in the nation shooting 58 percent at the free throw line last year. UMass went just 232-for-397 at the charity stripe in 2003-04 while its opponents converted on 319 of their 440 (.725) opportunities. The Minutewomen will be helped by the return of Katie Nelson. Nelson is a career 78 percent free throw shooter.
The All-Around Center
• The future looks bright for the Minutewomen if Tamara Tatham continues her 2003-04 pace. A forward playing as a center last year, Tatham was third on the team with 9.3 points per game. She also averaged 4.9 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.70 blocks and 1.52 steals per game. The Brampton, Ontario, native has reached double-figures in scoring in 18 of her 28 career games, including a career-high 15 against Saint Joseph's on Feb. 15.
NWBL All-Stars Recap
• Led by Brooke Campbell's 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting and Pam Rosanio's 11 points, the Massachusetts women's basketball team cruised to an 80-32 exhibition victory over the NWBL All-Stars Nov. 6 in the Mullins Center.
• The Minutewomen jumped out to a 26-6 lead by senior Katie Nelson who scored all eight of her points during that stretch.
• UMass finished the game shooting nearly 51 percent (34-of-67) from the floor. The Minutewomen controlled the paint scoring 50 of their 80 points from close range.
• Defensively, UM forced 23 NWBL turnovers which the Minutewomen converted into 27 points. UMass also controlled the glass out-rebounding the NWBL All-Stars 50-to-24 on the day. Along with Campbell and Rosanio, Patrycja Gulak added six points and 11 rebounds, while Nelson finished with a game-high six assists.
• Four players for UMass finished the game with eight points, including Tamara Tatham who shot 4-of-5 from the floor.
• That scoring balance gave UM the overwhelming edge as its bench outscored NWBL by a 34-to-4 margin.
• The All-Stars were led by June Walton who scored 11 points and pulled down four rebounds, while Valerie Briggs added eight points, two assists, and two steals.
• The NWBL All-Stars struggled offensively hitting just 12 field goals on just over 23 percent shooting from the floor.
Rage In The Cage III
• Massachusetts will host Syracuse on Saturday, Dec. 4, in Rage In The Cage III. Tip-off is slated for 2:00 p.m.
• The Minutewomen have won both prior games in the Cage. On Dec. 11, 2002, UMass upset No. 24 Villanova, 55-50. The Wildcats ended UConn's 70-game winning streak that year and advanced to the Elite Eight.
• Then on Dec. 3, 2003, UMass up-ended Vermont, 54-49, in the Cage.
• This will be just the third game played in the historic Cage since UMass beat Temple, 82-40, on Feb. 18, 1995. Overall, the Minutewomen are 125-107 at the Cage, which opened its doors in 1931.