University of Massachusets Athletics
Women's Basketball Closes Out Homestand Sunday Afternoon Against Charlotte
January 27, 2007 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 27, 2007
UMass Closes Out Homestand In Search Of Third Straight Win
• UMass (12-9, 2-4 Atlantic 10) closes out its four-game homestand by welcoming Charlotte (14-7, 5-1) to the Mullins Center for the second time ever and first as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference. UMass is coming off a 67-47 win at home Friday night at the Mullins Center while Charlotte dropped a 91-78 decision at Rhode Island.
• Sunday is UMass Alumnae Day as well as Girl Scouts Day. The Minutewomen are pleased to welcome several alumns back to the area. They will participate in a game Sunday morning at the Mullins Center and the have a post-game reception.
• It is also Girl Scout Day. All area scouts and leaders in recognizable apparel will receive $1 admission.
Last Time Out
• Massachusetts (12-9, 2-4 A-10) closed the game on a 16-0 run to pull away from Saint Louis (8-12, 0-6), 67-47, Friday night at the Mullins Center.
• The Minutewomen shot 46 percent (24-52) from the field and were a blistering 14-for-15 (.933) from the free throw line, including a perfect 14-for-14 in the second half.
• Pam Rosanio led the way with 20 points and nine rebounds. Kate Mills added 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and career-high seven blocks.
• Tamara Tatham added 12 points and nine boards while Alisha Tatham contributed 10 second half points, including eight in a row.
Tatham Reaches 1,000; Rosanio And Mills Closing In • With a basket at the 2:27 mark of the first half at Rhode Island Jan. 9, senior Tamara Tatham became the 15th player in UMass history to eclipse the 1,000-point plateau.
• Tatham is currently 13th in UMass history with her 1,077 points. • She was presented with a ball commemorating her milestone during the first half of the Jan. 18 Tempe game.
• Juniors Pam Rosanio and Kate Mills are also quickly moving up the career ranks. Rosanio needs 101 more points to break 1,000 for her career while Mills is 151 away.
• Rosanio is 20th with her 899 career points and Mills ranks 24th with 849 points.
Big Win
• UMass' 77-46 win over Holy Cross Jan. 3 was the largest win in nearly six years. The last time a UMass team won by more than 30 points was Feb. 4, 2001. The Minutewomen defeated St. Bonaventure by a score of 76-45 at the Mullins Center.
• It was also the largest win on the road since UMass beat Hofstra 88-53 on Jan. 12, 1993.
Tamara's A Thief
• Tamara Tatham is now fourth in the A-10 with 2.19 spg.
• Tatham posted a career-high tying six steals Jan. 3 against Holy Cross and now has 173 in her career which is tied for fifth in UMass history.
Double, Double-Double
• For the first time in nearly five years, two UMass players posted a double-double in the same game.
• Both Tamara Tatham and Kate Mills tallied a double-double against La Salle on Jan. 22. Mills had 14 points and 10 rebounds while Tatham chipped in with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
• The last time this happened was on March 2, 2002 against Richmond in the A-10 Tournament. Amber Sneed had 16 points and 14 rebounds while Jennifer Butler had 15 points and 10 boards.
Oh So Close
• Massachusetts has had a second-half lead in five of its nine losses this year. This includes a lead in the last five minutes in four of those contests.
• The Minutewomen have enjoyed a lead of at least a basket in the second half against Temple (led by two with 3:09 left), Richmond (led by four with 14:17 left), Rhode Island (led by four with 2:44 left), Boston College (led by six midway through the second half and two with 2:03 left) and Delaware (led by six with 4:29 left).
• In addition, the Minutewomen cut a 13-point deficit against Yale to two points with 9:45 left but could not get any closer.
We're Nice Guys
• UMass currently ranks ninth in the nation in fewest fouls a game. The Minutewomen are committing only 13.4 personal fouls a game.
• Fordham leads the nation having allowed just 12.1 fouls a game.
• UMass has committed just 281 personal fouls this year while its opponents have racked up 364 (17.3/game).
• Just one UMass player has fouled out of a game.
The Quartet
• UMass has had four, double-figure scorers in seven of the last 12 games. • Tamara Tatham and Kate Mills have done it each game. Mills, in fact, has posted at least 10 points in each of the team's 21 games.
• Here is a list of who has reached double-figures during the streak:
Tamara Tatham: 12
Kate Mills: 12
Pam Rosanio: 7
Solid At The Line
• UMass made its first 17 free throws at Rhode Island and finished the game 17-for-18, good for 94 percent.
• The lone miss came in overtime preventing the Minutewomen from their first perfect game at the line when taking more than 15 attempts since Jan. 20, 1996.
• UMass was 19-for-19 vs. La Salle that night.
• Kate Mills is fourth in the A-10 this year shooting 85 percent (66-78) at the line. She went 7-for-8 from the line Jan. 9 against Rhode Island while Tamara Tatham was a perfect 8-for-8.
Hot Start
• After beating Stephen F. Austin, 71-63, in the first round of the Best Western Roundball Classic on Nov. 25, UMass began the season 5-0 for the first time since the 1988-89 season.
• The best start to a season in school history was 9-0 by the 1968-69 team, the first women's basketball squad in school history. That team finished the season 13-2.
• UMass' nine wins in the first two months of the season marks the most the team has ever had before Jan. 1. The previous best was eight when the 2002-03 team (Marnie Dacko's first season at UMass) had eight wins.
• At 12-9, UMass has surpassed its win total from last year (11-17).
A Rare Overtime
• UMass defeated Buffalo, 72-67, in overtime on Dec. 10. That was the Minutewomen's first overtime contest since a loss at St. Bonaventure on Feb. 19, 2004.
• The Minutewomen played their second overtime game of the season Jan. 9 at Rhode Island, a 71-69 loss.
• This is the first time that UMass has played at least two overtime games in a season since 2002-03 when it had three.
Grabbing Those Boards
• Senior Tamara Tatham hauled in a career-high 18 rebounds in UMass' win over Northeastern on Dec. 2.
• It was the most rebounds by a Minutewoman since Edris Bailey had 18 vs. Duquesne on Feb. 8, 2004. It is also the rebounding high by any player in the A-10 this year.
Dishing Them Out
• A good sign of team basketball is high assist numbers and UMass has certainly achieved that this year.
• The Minutewomen currently rank first in the A-10 averaging 16.00 assists a game and are third with a 0.93 assist to turnover ratio.
• The assists have come from very unlikely spots though. The Minutewomen's starting front court has combined for 170 assists while the back court has just 85.
• 6-1 center/forward Tamara Tatham leads the team and is now 10th in the A-10 with 3.19 assists per game. She dished out a career-high eight helpers Nov. 30 against Wagner.
• 6-1 forward Kate Mills handed out a career-high eight helpers at Holy Cross on Jan. 3.
• UMass leads the league in assists despite having just one player in the top 15.
Freshman Finds Niche
• Freshman Kim Benton earned her first career start Dec. 10 at Buffalo and responded with back-to-back career games. She poured in a career-high 15 points against Buffalo (Dec. 10) and Eastern Michigan (Dec. 13).
• For the season, she is fourth on the team averaging 6.4 ppg. Benton ranks eighth in the A-10 in three-point field goals made (1.67/game) and is also tied for 14th in three-point field goal percentage (.333).
All-Around Tatham
• After a 12-point and 12-rebound effort against La Salle on Jan. 22, Tamara Tatham now has seven double-doubles this season after posting just six in her first three seasons.
• She is tied for second in the A-10 this year with the seven double-doubles.
• With her best season thus far in a UMass uniform, the Brampton, Ontario, native ranks among the league leader in nearly every statistical category.
• She is currently 15th in scoring (13.0 ppg), second in rebounding (9.1 rpg), seventh in field goal percentage (.512), 10th in assists (3.19), fourth in steals (2.19), 12th in assist to turnover ratio (0.80), tied for 14th in offensive rebounds (2.43) and second in defensive rebounds (6.67).
On Target
• UMass has quietly become the top shooting team in the league. The Minutewomen are currently first in the A-10 and 24th nationally shooting 44 percent (483-1088) from the field.
• Kate Mills is fourth in the league shooting 53 percent (131-246) from the floor, while Tamara Tatham is seventh at 51 percent (106-207).
• UMass is the lone A-10 school with two of the top six field goal shooters in the league.
Tough Defense
• UMass got off to its best defensive start since the 1973-74 season season after allowing just 47.0 ppg in its first four games.
• In 1973-74, the Minutewomen allowed just 141 points (35.3 ppg) in their first four games against Connecticut (68-27), Northeastern (45-37), Keene State (33-36) and Central Connecticut (51-41).
• It was also the best four-game defensive effort since the 1995-96 team allowed just 182 points (45.5 ppg) in consecutive games against Temple, Xavier, Duquesne and Fordham (Feb. 8-18).
• UMass currently ranks fourth in the league in scoring defense (59.2 ppg) and fifth in field goal percentage defense (.384). They are also third in three-point field goal defense (.301).
Younger Sister Looks Good
• Junior Alisha Tatham scored 10 second-half points, including eight in a row and 10 of 12 during a key 14-2 UMass run to take control of the game Jan. 26 against Saint Louis.
• For the season, Tatham is fifth on the team averaging 6.2 ppg and has started every game as the team's top defender. Tatham is usually defending the opposition's top scorer.
Gerardot Has High Game
• Sophomore Stephanie Gerardot scored a career-high 15 points in UMass' win against Wagner on Nov. 30.
• Gerardot had broken into double-figures just one other time in her career prior to that game but recently added 12 points against Delaware as well.
• For the season, Gerardot is sixth on the team averaging 3.9 ppg.
Mullins Magic
• Despite having its 10-game Mullins Center winning streak snapped by Delaware Dec. 17, Massachusetts has still won 36 of its last 56 games at home, a .643 winning percentage.
• UMass' longest home winning streak prior to this most recent 10-gamer was 14 from Feb. 18, 1995 against Temple to Feb. 27, 1996 vs. Rhode Island. That is also the school record.
Mills And Rosanio Pick Right Up Where They Left Off
• Juniors Kate Mills and Pam Rosanio have picked right up where they left off after All-Conference seasons in 2005-06.
• Mills began the season with consecutive double-doubles and is now averaging 15.6 ppg and 6.5 rpg. Mills is first on the team and eighth in the A-10 in points, while she is 15th in the league in rebounds and second in blocks (1.90).
• Mills scored 23 points in UMass' Jan. 18 loss vs. Temple, her eighth career 20-point game and just one off her career-high. She has also reached double figures in each of UMass' 20 games this year.
• For the third time this season, Rosanio just missed her first career double-double against Saint Louis (20 pts, nine rb) and is now averaging 11.7 ppg, 5.5 rpg and 2.5 apg.
• The 20 points against the Billikens marked her fifth career 20-point game. • She is 26th in the A-10 in scoring.
• Rosanio missed her first career game Jan. 18 vs. Temple after suffering a concussion the previous contest against No. 12 GW.
Block Party
• Both Tatham and Mills are moving up the career blocks chart as well.
• Mills is now fifth all-time at UMass with 102 blocked shots, over one a game in her career. Tatham, meanwhile, tied tied for ninth with 58.
• Mills blocked a career-high and Mullins Center record seven shots Jan. 26 against Saint Louis.