Nelson Breaks Three-Point FG Record As Minutewomen Win 5th In Last 6 Games, 63-53 Over St. Joe's

Feb. 5, 2006

AMHERST, Mass. - Senior Katie Nelson (Ellicott City, Md.) had 15 points and a career-high 10 assists for her first career double-double as Massachusetts (8-14, 5-6 A-10) defeated Saint Joseph's (15-7, 7-4), 63-53, Sunday afternoon at the Mullins Center. It was the Minutewomen's fifth win in their last six games. Nelson had three, first-half three-pointers to break the all-time record of 179 previously held by Beth Kuzmeski. Senior Patrycja Gulak (Olsztyn, Poland) had a career-high 15 points as well.

UMass came out of the gates on fire and was able to build up a 13-point first half lead at 19-6 seven and a half minutes into the start of the game. The Hawks were kept in the game by the hot shooting of Jen Oyler. She was 5-for-7 from three-point range while the rest of the team was a combined 4-for-19 from the field. UMass shot a blistering 65 percent from the field, but had 11 turnovers as it took a 36-31 lead into halftime. Nelson had three, three-pointers for the Minutewomen as they were 11-for-13 from the free throw line.

Saint Joseph's continued to chip away in the second half and got the UMass lead down to just a point, 39-38, with 14:21 left. It was as close as the Hawks had been all game. UMass sophomore Kate Mills (Elkton, Md.) then scored the next five points for the Minutewomen to push the lead back up to six points. That was all the scoring for Mills as she played all game in foul trouble and eventually fouled out late in the game.

The Hawks then capitalized on a 5:40 scoring drought by the Minutewomen and took their first lead of the game on a free throw by Faith Schutte. Freshman Stefanie Gerardot (Fort Wayne, Ind.), making her first career start, made a pair of free throws with 6:32 left to give the Minutewomen the lead back for good. After the Hawks had taken the lead briefly, UMass went 15-for-16 from the free throw line down the stretch and led by at least four points for the final five minutes. Saint Joseph's went 3:25 without scoring and 5:07 without a field goal down the stretch.

UMass finished the game 28-for-34 (.824) from the line. It was the first time the Minutewomen made at least 35 free throws since Nov. 14, 1998 against St. John's when they made 27. The Minutewomen shot just 29 percent (5-for-18) in the second half, but finished the game shooting 46 percent. The Hawks shot 31 percent for the game and went 15-for-23 (.652) from the line, including two missed shots on the front end of a 1-and-1 down the stretch.

The Hawks out-rebounded UMass, 33-26, and both teams had 15 turnovers. UMass had just four turnovers in the second half. Nelson played all 40 minutes for her first career double-double. She was 6-for-6 from the charity stripe. Gulak also pulled down four rebounds and was 5-for-5 from the line in addition to her 15 points. Junior Tamara Tatham (Brampton, Ontario) had 14 points and a team-high six rebounds for UMass.

Oyler led all scorers with 20 points and was 6-for-9 from three-point range. Hilary Klimowicz had nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

The Minutewomen will enjoy a week off before hosting Fordham next Sunday at the Mullins Center. Tip-off is set for 2:00 PM and the game will be broadcast on WMUA (91.1 FM in Amherst) and online at www.umassathletics.com. Free live video as well as live stats will also be available at www.umassathletics.com.

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