University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
New Hampshire
Women's Basketball Falls To New Hampshire, 59-43
December 04, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 4, 2005
DURHAM, N.H. - The New Hampshire women's basketball team (5-1) started the second half on an 18-0 run and cruised to a 59-43 win Sunday afternoon at the Lundholm Gymnasium. Freshman Sakera Young (Glassboro, N.J.) tallied a career-high eight points, all in the second half. Massachusetts had a season-best 16 steals.
The Wildcats used hot shooting to come out and take an early 17-13 lead nine minutes into the game. UNH made its first three, three-point attempts. Both teams cooled off for the next few minutes and the Minutewomen were down 21-15 with 7:37 left in the first half. UNH ran it to 23-15 and forced the Minutewomen to use a timeout with 7:11 left. UMass continued to play tough defense but went through a stretch where it scored just three points in almost seven minutes. Sophomore Pam Rosanio (Southampton, Pa.) had a steal and drove the length of the floor for a lay-up with 5:35 left that broke the drought for the Minutewomen. UMass still struggled to get in a rythm offensively and trailed by nine points, 29-20, at halftime.
UMass shot just 35 percent in the first half. UNH cooled off late and shot 44 percent. UMass had 11 first-half turnovers that the Wildcats were able to turn into 13 points. UMass held a slim 18-15 edge on the glass.
UNH started the second half red-hot and the Minutewomen could not buy a basket. The Wildcats ran off 18 straight points before a fast-break lay-up by sophomore Kate Mills (Elkton, Md.) broke the drought with just over 11 minutes left. The Minutewomen did not score on their first 13 possessions of the second half and committed six turnovers while missing 10 shots. UNH, meanwhile, started the second half off 6-for-8 from the field and 5-for-5 from the free throw line.
UMass pressured UNH and forced several steals which turned into lay-ups on the other end. Young's second consecutive steal and lay-up of the half cut the UNH deficit to 18 points, 53-35, with just under four minutes left. UMass continued to never let up and got the deficit down to 14 points, but just ran out of time.
The Minutewomen finished the game shooting 32 percent from the field while UNH shot 43 percent. Both teams committed 24 turnovers and UMass was out-rebounded 35-32.
UMass was led by Young and sophomore Alisha Tatham (Brampton, Ontario) with eight points apiece. Junior Tamara Tatham (Brampton, Ontario) grabbed a game- and career-high 12 rebounds. Ashley Cerniglia led the Wildcats with 14 points. Danielle Clark had 12 while Whitney Edwards had 10.
The Minutewomen will travel across the Commonwealth for a Thursday night game at Boston College. Tip-off from Conte Forum is set for 7:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on WMUA (91.1 FM in Amherst) and online at www.umassathletics.com. Live stats will also be available at www.umassathletics.com through Gametracker.
