University of Massachusets Athletics
Women's Basketball Back In Action Sunday At St. Bonaventure
January 07, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 7, 2006
Massachusetts And St. Bonaventure Both Look For First A-10 Win Sunday Afternoon
• Massachusetts (3-10, 0-2 A-10) looks for its first conference win at St. Bonaventure (6-7, 0-2) Sunday afternoon. The Minutewomen are coming off a 46-44 loss at Duquesne Friday night, while the Bonnies suffered a home loss to Saint Joseph's.
• The Minutewomen led for all but eight minutes of the game, but a three-pointer by Duquesne's Aiga Bautre gave the Dukes a 46-44 lead with 21 seconds left.
• Bautre came into the game sixth in the A-10 in scoring, but was 1-for-9 before she hit the game-winning shot.
• Ashley Sharpton was 4-for-5 from three-point range en route to a career-high 12 points. Kate Mills added a game-high 13 points for UMass as well as four rebounds, three blocked shots and two steals.
• UMass was out-rebounded 38-21 and had just three offensive boards. The Minutewomen did not have any second-chance points, but did have 13 assists on their 14 field goals.
• WMUA (91.1 FM in Amherst) will broadcast this afternoon's game beginning a half-hour before the scheduled tip. Nick Zguro has the play-by-play while Zach Claudio provides color commentary. A live broadcast will also be available at www.umassathletics.com through SportsJuice. Live stats are also available via Gametracker at www.umassathletics.com.
Scouting The Bonnies
• St. Bonaventure enters the game with a 6-7 overall record and like UMass is 0-2 in league play. The Bonnies began the year by winning their first five games, but have since dropped seven of eight and five in a row.
• St. Bonaventure is averaging 56.6 points per game (13th in A-10) and allowing 60.6 points per game (6th). The Bonnies are shooting .689 from the free throw line (5th), .377 from the field (13th) and .349 from three-point range (5th).
• SBU is 13th in the A-10 with a -3.9 rebounding margin and fourth with a +2.69 turnover margin.
• Stefanie Collins ranks first in the team and 18th in the A-10 averaging 12.4 ppg. She is a 41 percent shooter from the field and 43 percent from three-point range.
•Audrey Latendresse is second on the team with 10.0 ppg, while Ashley Edwards is the leading rebounder at 5.4 rpg.
The Series
• UMass leads the all-time series against St. Bonaventure, 27-15. A 69-58 UMass win in the last meeting on Feb. 6, 2005, at the Mullins Center snapped a four-game winning streak by the Bonnies.
• UMass Head Coach Marnie Dacko is looking for her first win in the Reilly Center as a the head coach of the Minutewomen. She led her Cornell team to a win in Olean.
• Overall, UMass is 10-10 against the Bonnies at the Reilly Center. The Minutewomen's last win in Olean was on Feb. 21, 2002. UMass won that game 71-66 in overtime.
Peach En Fuego
• Fifth-year senior Ashley Sharpton had a career night Jan. 6 at Duquesne. The Conyers, Ga., native had a career-high 12 points on 4-for-5 three-point shooting in UMass' 46-44 loss. Sharpton also added three rebounds and two assists in 30 minutes.
• Sharpton is averaging 3.6 ppg this year and is a 40-percent shooter from downtown. For her career, Sharpton ranks sixth all-time at UMass with a .340 three-point field goal percentage (35-for-103).
All-Tournament Duo
• Sophomores Pam Rosanio and Kate Mills both earned All-Tournament honors at the December 30-31 Atlanta Marriott Northwest/Georgia Tech Holiday Invitational.
• Rosanio averaged 14.0 ppg and 2.5 rpg in the two games while Mills averaged 12.5 ppg and 5.0 rpg. Rosanio was 12-for-15 (.800) from the free throw line while Mills shot 10-for-14 (.714) from the field.
Block Party
• Kate Mills blocked three shots Jan. 6 at Duquesne marking her fourth game this season with at least three blocked shots.
• Mills currently ranks third in the A-10 averaging 1.46 blocks per game.
• Her 19 blocks are a team-high.
• For her career, Mills had 44 career blocks which ranks 13th all-time at UMass.
Finally Breaking The Drought
• After failing to break the 50-point plateau for two consecutive games and four times in eight contests this year, UMass broke out for a season-high 76 points in the Dec. 10 loss at Syracuse.
• The 76 points were the most since the Minutewomen beat Toledo 76-56 on Dec. 6, 2004 at the Mullins Center.
• The Minutewomen followed that up with a 70-point effort against Brown on Dec. 30 in the Atlanta Marriott Holiday Invitational.
The New Center
• Sophomore Whitney McDonald has started the last six games at center for the Minutewomen and is showing that she belongs there.
• The Ossining, N.Y., native has averaged 5.3 ppg and 4.5 rpg in those contests.
• In her first career start Dec. 8 at Boston College, McDonald had a career-high eight points.
• She then topped that performance with a career-high 10 points and seven rebounds Dec. 10 at Syracuse. McDonald had all 10 points in the first half on 5-for-6 shooting.
• McDonald pulled down a career-high nine rebounds in UMass' 57-51 loss to Dayton Jan. 4 at the Mullins Center.
Mills Back In The Starting Line-Up
• Kate Mills has struggled a little this year when getting the starting nod, but had a solid game Jan. 6 at Duquesne while making her fifth start of the season.
• Mills scored a game-high 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field. This came on the heels of a 2-for-10 performance in the A-10 opener against Dayton Jan. 4.
• Mills also added four rebounds, three blocks, two steals and an assist.
• For the season, Mills is second on the team with 11.4 ppg and 5.3 rpg. She has shot a team-best .508 from the field and is also a 68 percent free throw shooter.
• 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 came back with 20 points on a career-best 10-for-13 shooting at Syracuse Dec. 10. That marked her second 20-game performance in the last five games.
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 13.1 ppg this season and reached double-figures in all but four games this year.
• Rosanio currently ranks 14th in the league in scoring.
• 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 and Dec. 10 at Syracuse.
• Rosanio, the Dinn Brothers/UMass Athlete of the Week on Nov. 21, has played in a team-high 35.5 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 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field Jan. 4 vs. Dayton.
• The Brampton, Ontario native is currently fifth on the team averaging 4.9 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 a force on the boards.
• The Brampton, Ontario, native has pulled down a team-high 7.5 rpg in UMass' 12 games. This includes a career-high 12 boards Dec. 4 at New Hampshire.
• Tatham is tied for seventh 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 third on the team with 4.4 rpg.
• 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 second on the team with 5.3rpg.
Dishing It Out
• UMass had a season-high 23 assists on 34 field goals Dec. 10 at Syracuse.
• 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.
• Katie Nelson led the Minutewomen with six assists (and just one turnover) against the Orange. Alisha Tatham and Kate Mills dished out four helpers each.
• Nelson is tied for 12th in the league dishing out 3.00 assists per game.
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 170 three-point field goals made. That is nine 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 561 trifectas. Kuzmeski has the second-most with 518.
• In addition, Nelson has a career .303 three-point field goal percentage. That is currently 10th-best in UMass history.
• Nelson also ranks sixth in school history with 310 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 24th all-time at UMass with 762 career points.
Moving Up
• Junior Tamara Tatham has had two very solid seasons thus far as a Minutewoman and is now 29th on the all-time chart in scoring.
• Tatham has 625 points and her 9.1 ppg average in her career is 20th-best on the all-time scoring average chart.
• In addition, Tatham is 14th in school history with 41 blocked shots. • Tatham spent this past summer training with the Canadian National Development team and participated in the World University Games in Izmir, Turkey.