University of Massachusets Athletics
Women's Basketball To Face Boston College Thursday Night
December 07, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 7, 2005
UMass Continues Five-Game Road Trip ThursdaY Against Boston College
• Massachusetts (2-5) looks to get back on the winning track Thursday night against Boston College (6-2). The Minutewomen are coming off a 59-43 loss at New Hampshire Sunday afternoon in Durham. The Eagles nearly upset No. 4 Ohio State Saturday at Conte Forum. BC took the Buckeyes to overtime, but lost 66-61.
• The Eagles are the first team receiving votes in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today polls this week.
• This is the ninth meeting of the series and Boston College holds a 5-3 lead. BC has won three games in a row and four out of the last five games in this series between Bay State rivals. UMass is 2-1 all-time against Boston College in this series.
Reunion Time
• The game will be a reunion for UMass head coach Marnie Dacko and Boston College head coach Cathy Inglese. The two were teammates at Southern Connecticut State for two seasons. Dacko was a 1978 graduate while Inglese graduated in 1980. • UMass Assistant Coach Mary Ciuk was a 1980 graduate as well. In addition, University of Arizona head coach Joan Bonvicini graduated from that same school in 1975. Her senior season was Dacko's freshman year.
• In Dacko's four years at the Trumbull, Conn., school, she led the Owls to a 72-27 record, four top 10 finishes and four trips to the AIAW Division I national tournament as a player. Dacko averaged team-highs of 17.2 points and 9.6 rebounds as a junior, as SCSU finished 20-6 overall and sixth at the national tournament. In her senior season, the Owls went 19-11 and finished fifth at the AIAW national tournament behind her 17 points and seven rebounds per game.
Scouting The Eagles
• Boston College comes into the game Thursday with a 6-2 record. Both of its losses have been against top 10 teams in No. 7 Connecticut and No. 4 Ohio State.
• The Eagles are currently the first team receiving votes in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today top 25 polls.
• BC averages 64.1 ppg while allowing 52.0 ppg. It is shooting 45 percent from the field, 32 percent from three-point range and 74 percent from the free throw line. The Eagles are out-rebounding the opposition, 40.8-29.1, and committing 17.8 turnovers a game.
• Brooke Queenan leads the team averaging 11.6 ppg and 8.6 rpg. Kindyll Dorsey is also in double-figures at 10.9 ppg, while Aja Parham is averaging 9.8 ppg and shooting 54 percent from the field.
The Series
• This evening marks the ninth all-time meeting between these two Bay State rivals. Boston College has won three in a row in the series and four out of the last five games to take a 5-3 series lead.
• UMass does own a 2-1 record on the road against the Eagles.
• In the last meeting, Boston College used a 32-18 advantage in the second half to pull away from the Minutewomen and win a 62-47 decision on Nov. 27, 2004, at the Mullins Center.
• Tamara Tatham led the Minutewomen with 14 points while Pam Rosanio added 13.
The New Sixth Man
• Since being taken out of the starting line-up three games ago, Kate Mills has responded nicely for the Minutewomen. Mills started the Minutewomen's first four games of the year and averaged 9.3 ppg and 3.0 rpg. She shot 41 percent from the field and 67 percent from the free throw line in those games.
• In the last three games, Mills has come off the bench to average 14.7 ppg and 7.0 rpg. She has shot 55 percent from the field and 80 percent from the free throw line while also adding five assists, three blocks and three steals.
• Mills posted her first career double-double in UMass' win over Siena Nov. 29. The sophomore from Elkton, Md., had career-highs of 15 points and 10 rebounds. She did this in only 23 minutes as she spent much of the game in foul trouble.
• She followed that up in the very next game with a career-high 22 points and eight boards in the Minutewomen's loss to Hofstra on Dec. 1. Mills scored 16 points in the second half on 6-for-9 shooting to help lead UMass back from a 16-point deficit. Down by a point, Mills saw her game-winning shot roll off the front of the rim with 2.9 seconds left.
• Mills is now second on the team and tied for 19th in the A-10 in scoring (11.6 ppg). She is also tied for second on the team and tied for 20th in the A-10 in rebounding (5.9 rpg).
Block Party
• UMass currently ranks second in the A-10 with 26 blocked shots.
• Kate Mills has 14 blocks this season which ranks second in the A-10, behind only Candace Dupree of Temple.
• In just 36 career games, Mills is already 14th in school history with 39 blocks.
• Patrycja Gulak is also tied for 10th in the A-10 with six blocks on the season. She has 31 in her career which ranks 19th.
• Tamara Tatham is also moving up the all-time school block list. She has 38 in her career which is 15th.
Picking Right Up Where She Left Off
• UMass sophomore swing player Pam Rosanio picked right up where she left off from last season.
• The Southampton, Pa., native is averaging a team-high 13.9 ppg this season and reached double-figures in all but two games this year.
• Rosanio currently ranks 10th in the league in scoring.
• Rosanio also ranks 12th in the league with a 71 percent free throw shooting percentage and is tied for 20th in rebounding at 5.9 rpg.
• After pouring in a game-high 18 points against Delaware, Rosanio just missed her first career double-double against Holy Cross. She had a team-high 15 points and tied her career-high with nine rebounds against the Crusaders.
• Her season high is 19 points which she scored Nov. 29 against Siena. In that game, Rosanio was 7-for-11 from the field, had five rebounds, four assists and no turnovers in 36 minutes of play.
• Rosanio, the Dinn Brothers/UMass Athlete of the Week on Nov. 21, has played in a team-high 34.8 minutes per game.
• Rosanio led the team in scoring as a freshman last year (10.9 ppg) and was selected by the A-10 coaches and media to the Preseason All-Conference second team.
Back To Back Double-Doubles
• UMass went the first four games of the season without a double-double, but saw a different player post a double-double in two straight games.
• Kate Mills posted her first career double-double Nov. 29 against Siena with a then-career-high 15 points and a career-high 10 boards.
• Tamara Tatham notched her fourth career double-double Dec. 1 against Hofstra with 13 points and a career-high tying 11 rebounds.
Younger Sister Getting In The Act As Well
• While Tamara Tatham has had a solid two-plus seasons in Amherst, her younger sister Alisha is beginning to make her presence felt.
• Alisha scored a career-high 11 points on Sunday against Holy Cross. She was 5-for-6 from the free throw line and made two clutch shots in the final few minutes of the Minutewomen's win.
• The Brampton, Ontario native is currently fourth on the team averaging 5.7 ppg.
• Alisha has spent the last couple of years playing on the Canadian Junior National team and was a starting captain this past summer.
Filling The Void
• One of the questions at the beginning of the season was how UMass would fill the shoes of Brooke Campbell on the boards. Well, junior Tamara Tatham has shown that she is the one.
• The Brampton, Ontario, native has pulled down a team-high 9.0 rpg in UMass' six games. This includes a career-high 12 boards Dec. 4 at New Hampshire.
• Tatham is tied for third in the A-10 on the glass.
• Pam Rosanio has also improved her production on the boards. Rosanio was averaging just 3.1 rpg heading into this season, but is tied for second on the team and tied for 20th in the league pulling down 5.9 boards.
• Rosanio tied her career-high against Holy Cross Nov. 20 with nine rebounds and just missed her first career double-double as she also scored 15 points.
• Kate Mills is also tied for second on the team and tied for 20th in the A-10 with 5.9 rpg.
Dishing It Out
• UMass came into the Siena game Nov. 29 with just 50 assists, but dished out a season-high 20 against the Saints.
• That was the most assists by the Minutewomen since breaking the school record with 28 against Toledo on Dec. 6, 2004, at the Mullins Center.
Nelson Breaks Three-Point Field Goals Attempted Record
• Redshirt senior point guard Katie Nelson is closing in on several records.
• Nelson currently ranks second all-time with 158 three-point field goals made. That is 21 trifectas behind Beth Kuzmeski who is the all-time leader.
• With five three-pointers attempted against Siena Nov. 29, Nelson broke the all-time school record. She now has now taken 525 trifectas. Kuzmeski has the second-most with 518.
• In addition, Nelson has a career .300 three-point field goal percentage. That is currently 11th-best in UMass history.
• Nelson also ranks seventh in school history with 292 career assists, while her 1.4 assist to turnover ratio ranks first all-time at UMass.
• Nelson, whose father is the head men's basketball coach at Johns Hopkins University (Md.), is currently 26th all-time at UMass with 718 career points.
Moving Up
• Junior Tamara Tatham has had two very solid seasons thus far as a Minutewoman and is now 33rd on the all-time chart in scoring.
• Tatham has 585 points and her 9.1 ppg average in her career is 20th-best on the all-time scoring average chart.
• In addition, Tatham is 15th in school history with 38 blocked shots.
• Tatham spent this past summer training with the Canadian National Development team and participated in the World University Games in Izmir, Turkey.
Love That Home Cookin'
• UMass has now won 24 of its last 40 home games (.600). This includes 11 of the last 15 (.733) non-conference tilts on its home floor.
UMass Picked Sixth In A-10
• At the annual men's and women's basketball media day Nov. 3 at the Wyndham Hotel in Philadelphia, the Minutewomen were picked to finish sixth by the league's coaches and selected media.
• For just the second time in the last 11 years, the A-10 will use the one-division format. Of the 14 teams in the league this year, the top 12 will make the A-10 Tournament, March 3-6 at Saint Joseph's Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse.
• Temple was picked to repeat as A-10 champions. Xavier was selected second followed by George Washington, Richmond and Charlotte.
• Dayton, Saint Joseph's, Duquesne, Rhode Island, La Salle, Fordham, St. Bonaventure and Saint Louis round out spots 7-14.
Rosanio Named To Preseason All-Conference Second Team
• In that same vote announced media day, Pam Rosanio was named to the preseason second-team All-Conference.
• Rosanio, a Southampton, Pa., native was named to the A-10 All-Rookie team a year ago.
• She led the team with 10.9 ppg last year, the second-highest total of any freshman in the A-10.