Women's Basketball Drops Heartbreaker To Delaware In Final Seconds

Dec. 17, 2006

AMHERST, Mass. -- Chrissy Fisher hit the game-winning shot with 14 seconds left to give Delaware (9-1) a 63-62 win over Massachusetts (9-3) Sunday afternoon at the Mullins Center. The loss snaps the Minutewomen's 10-game home winning streak. UMass led by six points with 4:29 left, but scored just three points the remainder of the game. Junior Kate Mills (Elkton, Md.) and freshman Kim Benton (Springfield, Pa.) led UMass with 14 points apiece. Sophomore Stefanie Gerardot (Fort Wayne, Ind.) had 12 points while junior Pam Rosanio (Southampton, Pa.) added 11. Benton hit a three-pointer with 29 seconds left that gave UMass a brief one-point advantage before Fisher's shot.

Following a Rosanio three-pointer, UMass led 11-10 but a 15-4 Delaware run in the next six minutes gave the Blue Hens a 10-point lead at 25-15 with 7:25 left in the first half. The Minutewomen began chipping away and eventually were able to tie the game at 30 following a pair of Rosanio free throws with 40 seconds left in the half. After a defensive stop, the Minutewomen came back down and Mills gave UMass a two-point lead just before halftime.

UMass shot just 36 percent (11-31) from the field in the first half, but had seven offensive rebounds and eight second-chance points. Delaware's pressure defense was able to force eight UMass turnovers and that is how it was able to build up the initial first-half lead. The Minutewomen were just 2-for-12 (.167) from three-point range in the first half as Delaware was challenging them to shoot from the outside. The Blue Hens, meanwhile, shot 43 percent from the field.

After going 0-for-5 from three-point range in the first half, Benton came out firing in the second half and nailed two straight three-pointers as the Minutewomen were able to take a five-point lead. Delaware tied it at 40 a few minutes later and the UMass lead went between one and five for the next eight minutes.

It was tied at 53 with 7:48 left when UMass took advantage of a four and a half minute scoring drought by the Blue Hens to take a six-point lead at 59-53. Gerardot capped the run for the Minutewomen with a jumper. Alena Koshansky came right down after the Gerardot basket to hit a three-pointer and cut UMass' lead in half. Neither team scored for the next minute and a half until Delaware's Tyresa Smith made it a one-point game with 2:40 left. The scoring drought for the Minutewomen continued and Kyle DeHaven took advantage by hitting a three-pointer to put the Blue Hens back on top, 61-59, with 1:15 left. Benton missed a three-pointer a few seconds later and the Blue Hens took the ball back and called timeout with 48 seconds left. UMass pressured the inbound pass and senior Tamara Tatham (Brampton, Ontario) came up with a big steal to get the ball back with 38 seconds left.

Following a timeout, Benton nailed a three-pointer to give the Minutewomen a 62-61 lead with 29 seconds left. Delaware got the ball across half court and called a timeout. Following the timeout, UMass concentrated its defensive efforts on Smith. It was Fisher who ducked around the screen and knocked down a foul line jumper giving the Blue Hens a 63-62 lead with just 14 seconds left. On the ensuing possession, UMass threw the ball away and had to foul Fisher with just five seconds left. Fisher missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and Mills grabbed the rebound. She quickly got the ball to Benton, but her half-court desperation shot bounced off the back-board and UMass suffered the tough defeat.

UMass finished the game shooting 40 percent (21-52) from the field. The Minutewomen were 7-for-22 (.318) from three-point range and 13-for-15 (.867) from the free throw line. Delaware shot 42 percent (26-62) from the field and held a 35-34 edge in rebounding as well as a 24-10 edge in the paint.

Mills also had five rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots in addition to her 14 points. Benton had five rebounds to go along with her 14 points, while Tamara Tatham added nine points and seven rebounds. UMass had 17 assists and 17 turnovers. Delaware had 20 assists and 15 steals. Smith led the Blue Hens with 20 points, nine rebounds, five assists, six steals and no turnovers.

Massachusetts will now enjoy a two-week break for final exams and the holidays before returning to the hardwood for a New Year's Eve matinee at Boston College. Tip-off from Conte Forum will be 1:00 PM and the game will be broadcast live on WMUA, 91.1 FM in Amherst, and online at www.umassathletics.com.

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