University of Massachusets Athletics
Women's Basketball Opens New Season Friday Night In Vermont
November 09, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 9, 2006
VIDEO: Dacko Previews Vermont Game
Minutewomen Set To Open Season Friday Night In Vermont
• UMass opens up its 39th season of women's basketball Friday night with a trip to the Green Mountain State against the University of Vermont.
• 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.
• A live video stream of the game will be available for a fee courtesy of the University of Vermont. The cost will be $6 a game. For more information, log on to: www.uvm.edu/athletics.
• The Minutewomen are 16-22 overall in its season-openers, including a 7-11 mark on the road. They are looking to snap a skid in which they have lost nine straight season-openers on the road.
• Head Coach Marnie Dacko is 1-3 in her first four season openers at UMass. She won her UMass debut against Scared Heart at the Mullins Center, but has dropped the last three contests (Sacred Heart, Southern California and Delaware), all on the road.
• UMass is 20-5 all-time against Vermont and has won the last two games in a row and four out of five. In the last meeting between these two teams, UMass triumphed 54-49 on Dec. 3, 2003 in the Cage. The Minutewomen are 9-3 all-time on the road in this series.
• Vermont was picked to finish eighth in the nine-team America East Conference. Ten of the Catamounts' 14 players are either freshmen or sophomores. Sharon Dawley begins her fourth season as the head coach of the Catamounts. She is 37-46 in her first three seasons on the Vermont bench.
• Senior guard Brittney Cross is the team's top returning scorer at 9.3 ppg, while sophomore forward Andrea Cihal was an America East All-Rookie selection a year ago.
Mills, Rosanio Selected To A-10 Preseason All-Conference Third Team
• Juniors Kate Mills and Pam Rosanio have been selected to the Atlantic 10 preseason All-Conference third-team as announced by the league office in voting conducted by the conference's coaches and media. In that same vote, the Minutewomen were picked to finish eighth in the 14-team league.
• Mills and Rosanio, who accounted for 43 percent of the team's scoring last year, were both second-team All-Conference picks a year ago.
• Mills played in all 28 games last year, making six starts. She averaged 12.4 ppg and 5.3 rpg in just under 26 mpg. Mills also had 40 assists, 37 blocks and 23 steals and ranked fifth in the league with 1.3 blocks per game. Her scoring average was 15th in the league and she shot a team-best 54 percent from the field which ranked first on the team and fourth in the A-10. In addition, Mills was a 77 percent shooter from the free throw line.
• Rosanio started all 28 games, playing the most on the team with 34.5 mpg. She ranked first on the team and 14th in the league averaging 12.4 ppg and was also third on the team averaging 4.4 rpg and second with 2.7 apg. She shot 76.4 percent from the line, placing her second on the team and sixth in the league. In addition, Rosanio was second on the team in field goals made per game with 0.8.
Dacko In Non-Conference Play
• In four years under Dacko, UMass has fared quite well in its non-conference schedule. The Minutewomen are 22-22 (.500) in 44 games.
• UMass has won 11 of its last 15 non-conference home games.
Mullins Magic
• UMass takes a six-game winning streak at the Mullins Center into this season. The home opener will be Tuesday, Nov. 14, against New Hampshire.
• In addition, the Minutewomen have won 30 of its last 48 games at home which is a .625 winning percentage.
• During this six-game homecourt winning streak, UMass is averaging 66.0 ppg while allowing just 57.7 ppg.
• The Minutewomen are shooting a remarkable 46 percent from the field, 39 percent from three-point range and an amazing 83 percent at the free throw line.
• UMass has averaged 17.3 assists and 6.3 steals as well in this span.
• From the line, UMass has made nearly twice as many free throws (116) as its opponents have taken (65).
• Three current UMass players are averaging double-figures during this run led by Kate Mills' 14.3 ppg. Pam Rosanio (13.5 ppg) and Tamara Tatham (11.8 ppg).
• This is UMass' longest winning streak at home since it reeled off seven in a row from Feb. 10, 2002 against St. Bonaventure to Jan. 18, 2003, vs. the Bonnies.
>b>Closing In On 1,000
• Senior Tamara Tatham needs just 197 more points to become the 15th player in UMass history to eclipse the 1,000-point plateau. Tatham has 803 career points in her first three seasons, an average of 9.5 points per game.
• Tatham currently ranks 23rd in UMass history with her 803 points.
• Junior Pam Rosanio is also quickly moving up the career ranks. She needs 335 more points to break 1,000 for her career. Rosanio has averaged 11.7 points per game in her career and tallied 315 and 350 points in her first two years, respectively.
• Rosanio ranks 29th in UMass history with her 665 career points.
Block Party
• Both Tatham and Mills are quickly moving up the career blocks chart.
• Mills is currently seventh all-time at UMass with 62 blocked shots (1.09/game) while Tatham ranks 10th with 53 (0.62/game).
• Mills ranked fifth in the A-10 last year with 1.32 blocked shots per game and had six games with at least three blocks last year.
Best Crowd In Nine Years
• 2,989 fans walked through the turnstiles on Field Trip Day at the Mullins Center Jan. 13 against Rhode Island.
• That marked the largest crowd to see a UMass women's basketball home game since a school-record 6,065 saw the Minutewomen take on Connecticut on Dec. 11, 1997.
• UMass will try to surpass that number this year for the third annual Field Trip Day on Monday, Jan. 22 against La Salle.
Continue That Hot Shooting
• After struggling for three straight years at the free throw line, UMass became one of the league's best from the charity stripe last year and look to carry that into this season.
• The Minutewomen were fourth last year at the line shooting 72 percent. This comes after finishing either last or next to last in Dacko's first three seasons at UMass.
• The 28 free throws made by the Minutewomen Feb. 2, 2006 against Saint Joseph's tied for the most in one game by an A-10 team last year.
• UMass had three players finish the season ranked in the top 10 in the league at the line, the most of any school.
• Mills was fourth at 77 percent while Rosanio finished sixth (76 percent) and Tamara Tatham was 10th (72 percent).
