University of Massachusets Athletics
Women's Basketball Hosts La Salle On Dollar Day
January 07, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 7, 2005
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Massachusetts Returns To The Mullins Center To Host La Salle Friday Night
• After a five game road trip which saw Massachusetts go 3-2, it finally returns to the friendly confines of the Mullins Center to host La Salle Friday night at 7.
• The Minutewomen are 7-5 overall now and 0-1 Atlantic 10 Conference play following their 59-43 loss at Temple Tuesday night.
• La Salle is 6-6 and also 0-1 in league play. The Explorers dropped a 61-54 decision at home to Richmond Tuesday.
• UMass has not played a home game in 34 days since downing Toledo, 76-56, on Dec. 6, at the Mullins Center.
• UMass holds a 7-5 advantage in the series against La Salle and are 3-1 at home.
• The Minutewomen lost to the Explorers, 64-60, on Jan. 3, 2004, in Philadelphia.
• La Salle has won the last two games of the series. On March 6, 2003, sixth-seeded La Salle upset UMass, 67-62, in the first round of the A-10 Tournament. Prior to that, the Minutewomen had won seven of eight games against the Explorers.
• Massachusetts has won 17 of its last 28 home games and are 2-1 on its homecourt this year. Its only loss was to No. 20 Boston College in November.
• The Minutewomen boast the best scoring defense (55.0 ppg) and field goal percentage defense (.357) in the league, while La Salle is the third-best scoring (67.0 ppg) team.
Scouting La Salle
• La Salle enters tonight's game with a 6-6 overall record. It is also 0-1 in the league after falling at home to Richmond, 61-54, Tuesday night. The Explorers own wins over Wagner, Drexel, Boston University, Binghamton, Providence and Georgetown. Its losses have come against Seton Hall, Penn, Villanova, Delaware, Ken State and Richmond.
• The Explorers are third in the league in scoring (67.0 ppg), ninth in scoring defense (62.6 ppg), third in field goal percentage (.422), second in three-point field goal percentage (.365), second in free throw percentage (.714), seventh in rebounding margin (+0.4) and sixth in turnover margin (+0.75).
• Crista Ricketts leads the team in scoring (15.7 ppg), rebounding (6.8 rpg) and blocked shots (9). • Jill Marano is second in scoring at 12.0 ppg, while Davineia Payne is also in double-figures at 10.0 ppg.
Stepping Up The D • On December 1, the Minutewomen held Providence to 39 points in a 53-39 win. It was the fewest points that a UMass team has allowed since beating New Hampshire 56-39 on Dec 13, 2000.
• The Minutewomen currently rank first in the Atlantic 10 and 32nd in the country allowing a mere 55.0 ppg.
• The Minutewomen have held each of their opponents this season to 67 or less points.
• In addition, all of its opponents have been held well below their season averages.
• The Minutewomen rank first in the league and 21st nationally in field goal percentage defense holding their opponents to a .357 clip from the field.
• UMass held three straight opponents to under 30 percent from the field. Toledo shot .299 from the field on Dec. 6, while Hofstra was .286 from the field on Dec. 9. UMass then held Siena to 24 percent shooting from the field on Dec. 12.
• Only three of the Minutewomen's 12 opponents this season have shot better than 39 percent from the field. Boston College shot 46 percent on Nov. 27. Elon connected at 45 percent on Dec. 30 and then Temple shot 49 percent from the field on Jan. 4.
Second Half D
• The Minutewomen have been especially tough defensively in the second half and that has been a major part of its wins.
• In its seven wins, Massachusetts is holding its opponents to a 29 percent (58-199) clip from the field in the second half. They are shooting 36 percent (68-188) in the first halves of those games.
Dramatic Change On The Road
• Prior to its win at Fordham on Feb. 13, 2004, the Minutewomen had gone 19 consecutive road games without a win, the longest streak in school history. Massachusetts lost its final two road games last year and took a streak into this year where it had lost 22 of 23 games on the road.
• UMass has turned that around this year, however, and are 4-2 on the road. Both losses have come to teams at least receiving votes in both polls.
• The Minutewomen had their four-game road winning streak snapped Dec. 29 by #17/17 Maryland. They then suffered a 59-43 set-back to Temple on Jan. 5. The Owls were receiving votes in both polls at the time.
• The last four-game winning streak on the road came during a five-game run in the 1997-98 season. The Minutewomen defeated five straight A-10 foes that year (Temple, La Salle, Rhode Island, Saint Joseph's and St. Bonaventure).
• This was also the first time that the Minutewomen started off the season winning its first four road games since 1979-80.
• The previous time a UMass team won just two straight road games to start a season was in 1997-98. That was also the last time the Minutewomen advanced to the NCAA Tournament. UMass defeated Hartford, 65-33, on Nov. 25, 1997, and Kent, 67-65, on Nov. 28, 1997. The Minutewomen lost their next game to Ohio State, 59-56.
107 And Counting
• 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, while at UMass. Joanie O'Brien went 159-159 in 11 seasons at the helm of Massachusetts from 1991-2002.
• Dacko had to wait nine more games for number 101 however. UMass' 61-60 win at Holy Cross on Nov. 23 was career win number 101 for Dacko.
• Dacko is now 26-41 (.397) overall in two-plus seasons since coming to UMass from Cornell. She is 107-145 (.425) overall when you factor in her seven seasons with the Big Red.
Dishing It Out In Style
• As a team, Massachusetts had 28 assists in the Dec. 6 win against Toledo to set a new school record. This surpassed the previous mark of 27 set on Feb. 24, 1986, against Temple.
• The 28 assists by the Minutewomen were also the most by an Atlantic 10 team since Saint Joseph's had 28 against St. Bonaventure on Jan. 13, 2002.
• Point guard Katie Nelson led the way with seven helpers, just one off her career-high.
• As a team, the Minutewomen are fourth in the league averaging 14.00 assists a game.
• Nelson also ranks sixth in the league handing out 3.92 helpers a game.
Starters Are Solid From The Field
• In the Minutewomen's 76-56 win over Toledo on Dec. 6, the five starters combined for 54 points. More impressively, however, the quintet shot a combined 25-of-34 (74 percent) from the field.
• Brooke Campbell was 5-for-11 (11 points), Tamara Tatham was 6-for-8 (13 points), Patrycja Gulak was 6-for-6 (12 points), Katie Nelson was 2-for-4 (five points) and Pam Rosanio was 6-for-9 (13 points).
• All told, the Minutewomen made 35 field goals against the Rockets. That tied a Mullins Center record. The only other time it has happened in the Mullins Center was against Fordham on Jan. 31, 1999.
Five For Fighting
• In the next game, a 64-57 win at Hofstra on Dec. 9, those same five starters all scored in double figures. That was the first time that the five Massachusetts starters all scored at least 10 points since March 2, 2002. The Minutewomen defeated Duquesne, 77-68, on Senior Day at the Mullins Center.
• Freshman Pam Rosanio led the way against the Pride with 13 points. Senior Brooke Campbell and redshirt junior Katie Nelson each had 12 points. Redshirt junior Patrycja Gulak finished with 11 points, while sophomore Tamara Tatham tallied 10.
Near Perfect December
• With the Minutewomen's 59-49 win Dec. 12 at Siena, it marked the first time in two years that they had won five games in a row.
• UMass' last five-game winning streak was part of a six-game run from Dec. 1-Dec. 14, 2002. The Minutewomen knocked off Toledo, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Villanova and Northeastern during that stretch.
• The Minutewomen concluded the month of December with a 6-1 record.
Dacko Likes December
• Massachusetts just defeated Elon, 57-50, to finish the month of December 6-1.
• In three seasons at the helm of Massachusetts, head coach Marnie Dacko is 15-6 in the month of December. Just seven of those 21 games have come at home and the Minutewomen won each of those contests.
Up To Last Year...already • It's just the start of the new year, but the Minutewomen have already exceeded last year's win tally. UMass went just 6-22 last year.
• After starting the season 0-2 at the Moran Realty Classic in Chicago, the Minutewomen have won seven of their last 10 games and now stand at 7-5 overall.
Big Night For the Freshman • Freshman Pam Rosanio had a career night Nov. 23 at Holy Cross, but saved her best shot for last. After UMass had blown an eight-point lead with under five minutes left, the Southampton, Pa., native hit a shot with seven seconds remaining in regulation to give UMass its first win of the season.
• The basket by Rosanio capped a career-high 16-point night. She was 7-for-14 from the field, 1-for-2 from three-point range and also added two rebounds and two assists.
• Rosanio leads the team in scoring at 10.5 ppg and has tallied double figures in eight of the Minutewomen's first 11 games.
• Rosanio has the second-highest point total of any freshman in the league.
• She was named the A-10 Rookie of the Week and Dinn Brothers/UMass Athlete of the Week on Nov. 29. She averaged 14.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg and 2.0 apg the previous week to earn the honor.
• Two weeks later, Rosanio earned her second A-10 Rookie of the Week nod. Rosanio averaged 13.0 points and 3.5 assists per game as UMass defeated Toledo and Hofstra.
Bombs Away From Three
• UMass is on pace to match or break the school record for three-point field goals attempted in a season. The Minutewomen have taken 166 trifectas this year, an average of 13.9 per game. If they were to continue this pace, they would take more than 400 three-pointers during the regular season.
• The school record for three-pointers taken in a season is 413 in 2002-03.
• Katie Nelson leads the way with 76 three-pointers attempted this year. She has now taken 372 in her career which ranks third in school history.
• Nelson is also ninth in the A-10 making 1.83 three-pointers a game.
• As a team, Massachusetts is ninth in the league making 3.50 three-pointers a contest. They rank 11th in the league with a .253 (42-166) percentage.
Solid Off The Bench
• With 6-4 center Patrycja Gulak in foul trouble all game against No. 20 Boston College Nov. 27, freshman Kate Mills was called upon and kept the Minutewomen in the game. Since then, she has been a reliable front-court player off the bench.
• The Elkton, Md., native broke out for a career-high 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field at Temple, Jan. 5. Mills also grabbed four rebounds against the Owls and had a career-high three steals. She played 30 minutes, 17 more than her previous high.
• For the season, Mills is averaging 4.1 ppg and 2.8 rpg. She is averaging 12.0 minutes a game and has seen action in every contest thus far.
• She has averaged 8.7 points and and 4.0 rebounds in the last three games.
• Mills has become one of the top shot blockers in the league. She now has nine in the past 10 games and is second on the team with 10.
• Her 10 blocks this year are the third-most for a freshman in the league and 10th-highest overall in the A-10.
Nelson's Back
• Redshirt junior point guard Katie Nelson returns to the back court after sitting out last year following knee surgery. She came back in style averaging 8.5 points, 4.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds in two games at the Moran Realty Classic (Nov. 19-20) en route to All-Tournament team honors.
• 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 372 attempts and 113 three-point field goals made. Nelson also ranks 10th with a .304 percentage from behind the arc.
• Nelson also earned All-Tournament honors at the Terrapin Classic, Dec. 29-30. She averaged 11.0 ppg and 3,5 apg.
• Nelson is third on the team this averaging 8.3 ppg and has a team-high 47 assists (3.92 apg).
Up ANd Down At The Line
• Sophomore Tamara Tatham has certainly had a roller coaster ride at the free throw line during a recent three-game stretch.
• Tatham began the period by going 6-for-6 at the charity stripe against 20th-ranked Boston College on Nov. 27. She then came back the next game and went just 2-for-10 from the free throw line in a win at Providence Dec. 1.
• Tatham had just two freebies Dec. 4 against Syracuse, but they could not have come at a bigger time. The Brampton, Ontario, native had a one-and-one opportunity with just 11 seconds left in regulation and the game tied at 50.
• She calmly drilled the first one to put the Minutewomen up a point. Following a Syracuse timeout, she nailed the second one which turned out to be the game-winner and the Minutewomen got the W.
80 percent is better
• Massachusetts came into the Dec. 12 game at Siena shooting 46 percent from the free throw line. That ranked last in the league and 320th in the nation out of 324 teams.
• UMass might have single-handedly won the game against the Saints because of its shooting from the charity stripe. The Minutewomen were 20-for-25 (.800) from the line against Siena, including 13-for-15 (.867) in the second half.
• Including that game, Massachusetts has fared much better from the line. In the past four games, the Minutewomen are shooting 69 percent (45-65) at the charity stripe.
• For the season, Massachusetts is now shooting 55 percent (98-179) from the free throw line.
Double-Double Campbell
• For the first time in her career, senior Brooke Campbell posted three consecutive double-double performances.
• The Baltimore, Md., native had 16 points and 10 rebounds against Syracuse on Dec. 4. She followed that up with an 11-point, 13-board game against Toledo on Dec. 6 and then 12 points and 14 rebounds against Hofstra on Dec. 9.
• For her efforts, Campbell earned co-Atlantic 10 Player of the Week honors on Dec. 12. Campbell averaged 11.5 points and 13.5 rebounds against Toledo and Hofstra.
• Campbell's three double-doubles are tied for the fifth-most in the Atlantic 10 this season.
• She was also named the Dinn Brothers/UMass Athlete of the Week on Dec. 13. It marked the third straight week that a women's basketball player earned that feat.
• Campbell posted back-to-back double-doubles in both games of the Coca-Cola Classic, Nov. 29-30, 2003, in Fairfield, Conn. She had 17 points and 11 rebounds in a Nov. 29 loss to Fairfield. She then added 20 points and 15 boards the next day in a win over Brown.
• For the season, Campbell is averaging 7.3 points per game and is third in the league pulling down 8.8 boards a game.
Solid Debut
• Freshman Pam Rosanio had one of the better debuts in a UMass uniform. The Southampton, Pa., native had a game-high 11 points in the Minutewomen's 54-49 opening night loss to Southern California. This was the third-highest point total of any freshman playing in their first game the past 15 seasons.
Top Five Freshman Debuts (Last 15 Yrs)
Rk. Player Pts. Opponent Date
1. Kelly Van Huisen 14 Ohio State 11/24/96
2. Paige Harris 13 Charlotte 11/20/00
3. Pam Rosanio 11 USC 11/19/04
4. Tamara Tatham 10 Sacred Heart 11/21/03
5. Jennifer Butler 9 Clemson 11/19/99
Home Cookin'
• While it has won just three road games in almost two years, the Maroon & White have won 17 of the last 28 games on its home floor including nine of the past 11 non-conference tilts.
• In the annual "Rage In The Cage" contest, the Minutewomen are 3-0. That started in the 2002-03 season and one game a year is played in the historic Curry Hicks Cage. Massachusetts has defeated Villanova, Vermont and Syracuse there.
Grabbing Those Boards
• Massachusetts has used a balanced effort on the glass to rank third in the A-10 in rebounding with 40.0 boards a game. The Minutewomen's +5.6 rebounding margin is second in the league and 50th in the nation.
• UMass has held the edge on the glass in nine of its first 11 games thus far. Five players are currently averaging at least 3.0 rebounds a game led by Brooke Campbell who has pulled down 9.0 boards a game.
• Campbell ranks third in the league on the glass and has tallied five double-digit rebounding games this year.
Block Party
• Through the first 12 games this season, redshirt junior center Patrycja Gulak is second in the league with 1.42 blocks per game. She has swatted 17 shots thus far.
• The Poland native swatted a career-high three shots in the season opener against USC and then again at Hofstra, Dec. 9.
• Edris Bailey then turned in a career-high, four-block performance against Syracuse, Dec. 4, while Kate Mills established a career-high three blocked shots against Toledo on Dec. 6 and Siena on Dec. 12.
• As a team, Massachusetts has 49 (4.08 bpg) blocks which is second in the league.
• The Minutewomen had nine blocked shots against Toledo on Dec. 6 at the Mullins Center. It was the most blocks by a UMass team since it had 12 against Rhode Island on March 3, 1988.
• The nine swats set a new Mullins Center woman's record.
No Sophomore Jinx
• Through 12 games, Sophomore Tamara Tatham is out to prove that there is no such thing as a sophomore jinx. After a very solid freshman year, Tatham is second on the team in both scoring (9.3 ppg) and rebounding (5.7 rpg) this season.
• After committing 21 turnovers in her first four games, she has just 13 in the past eight.
• Tatham tallied her second career double-double Dec. 12 at Siena with a career-high 21 points. She also tied a career-high with 11 rebounds against the Saints.
• Tatham had a career-high six steals against Elon on Dec. 30 and leads the team with 28 thefts. Her 2.33 steals per game average ranks seventh in the league.