Nov. 16, 2007
AMHERST, Mass. -
The UMass women's basketball team (2-0) will take to the road for the first time in 2007-08 on Saturday when they travel to Boston to take on Northeastern (1-1) in a 2 p.m. game at Solomon Court. UMass will be looking to improve to 3-0 for just the second time in 10 years. The Minutewomen defeated Boston College, 69-66, on Wednesday evening at the Mullins Center. The Huskies split their first two games of the season at the UCF Knights Classic in Orlando, Fla.
BROADCAST INFO
The game will be carried on WMUA 91.1 FM and on UMassAthletics.com with Chris Marovelli and Zach Claudio calling the action.
LAST TIME OUT
The Minutewomen did something they hadn't done in 12 years on Wednesday, defeat Boston College. The 69-66 victory was the Minutewomen's first over the Eagles since Dec. 30, 1995 at the Lady Gator Classic in Gainesville, Fla., 73-63.
Stefanie Gerardot (Fort Wayne, Ind.) scored a career-high 20 points to lead all scorers. She went 8-10 from the field and 4-6 from three-point range.
Kate Mills (Elkton, Md.) scored 16 points and grabbed six rebounds, while fellow-seniors Alisha Tatham (Brampton, Ontario) and Pam Rosanio (Southampton, Pa.) added 14 and 10 points, respectively.
It was a back and forth affair all game. The teams traded leads 14 times and were tied nine times. No team ever led by more seven points (BC, 2nd-6:24).
The win marked only the second time that UMass has defeated an Atlantic Coast Conference team. The first was Nov. 25, 2001 vs. Clemson, 54-51. The Minutewomen's prior wins versus BC were when the Eagles were members of the Big East.
SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 27th meeting between the two schools, with UMass holding 15-11 edge. The home team has won the last six times they have played.
The Minutewomen won last season's game with the Huskies, 58-50, on Dec. 2 at the Mullins Center. Rosanio led the charge that night, scoring 22 points and grabbing six boards. Mills added 17 points while Tamara Tatham added 10. Ashlee Feldman paced the Huskies with 12 points.
Northeastern's last win in the series came on Dec. 14, 2003 by a score of 69-56. That was also the last time the two teams played at Solomon Court.
SCOUTING NORTHEASTERN
The Huskies enter Saturday's game 1-1 with both games taking place at the UCF Knights Classic in Orlando, Fla. In the tournament opener on Friday Nov. 9, they defeated Coppin State, 69-65. In the finals on Sunday Nov. 11, the Huskies fell to Texas Tech, 82-51.
Dyania La-Force Mann is in her second season as head coach of the Huskies. The 1995 Georgetown graduate was previously a head coach at the University of New Haven and had assistant coaching stints at St. John's and Long Island University.
The Huskies are a guard-oriented team that likes to penetrate and either get to the basket or kick-out for threes. The top three scorers from a season ago were all guards and are back this season.
Senior 5-5 guard Lucia Pablos leads the team thus far, averaging 14.5 points per game (13.5 in 2006-07) and is a perfect 11-11 from the foul line. 5-10 junior guard Ashlee Feldman is second on the team at 12.0 points per game (12.7 in 2006-07) and leads the club with 10 assists.
Preseason All-CAA guard Shaleyse Smallwood led the team last season in scoring at 16 points per game and is averaging 8.0 per game this season.
Northeastern players are shooting at a much higher percentage from beyond the three-point line (.417) than their overall field goal percentage (.350).
WELCOME TO THE CLUB
Pam Rosanio joined select company in Nov. 9's season-opening win versus Vermont. She became the 17th player in UMass history to reach the 1,000-point mark. She ended last season with 988 and poured in a career-high 25 in the 69-68 victory.
The last UMass player to reach the 1,000-point plateau was fellow-senior Kate Mills. She reached the mark just last season, in the finale versus St. Bonaventure. Now in their fourth season playing together, Mills (1,031) sits just ahead of Rosanio (1,023) in career points.
PUTTING ON A SHOW
Stef Gerardot has been red-hot thus far in 2007-08. After averaging 4.2 points in 14.5 minutes per game in 2006-07, she is averaging 15.0 points in 24 minutes per game this season.
Gerardot scored a career-high 20 points on 8-10 shooting (4-6 three-pointers) to lead the Minutewomen to a 69-66 win over Boston College on Wednesday. 15 of her points came in the second half when UMass erased a seven-point BC lead.
"Stef came in off the bench and stuck a three-pointer right away," Dacko said. "That's what we look for from her. She's a great shooter and this is the way she shoots everyday in practice. It's nice to see all her hard work paying off for her."
MILLS, ROSANIO ALL-CONFERENCE ONE-TWO PUNCH
Last season's leading scorer at 16.1 points per game, Kate Mills will be looked to to lead the Minutewomen at both ends of the court again this year. She averaged 6.9 rebounds per game and blocked 64 shots, a school record. She also contributed 72 assists on her way to being named Third Team All-Conference. In last season's finale, she became the 16th player in school history to eclipse 1,000 career points. Mills is sure to add many more to that total as she will be the main cog in this year's offense.
"Kate has grown every year, grown into a leadership role, and grown into really making this her team," said Coach Dacko. "She has been our go-to player. Kate is probably the best perimeter shooter we have as well as the best percentage-wise. Our game is inside-outside, so Kate gets the ball every time down the floor and it's her decision to take it or dish it out. She is also a real stabilizing factor for us defensively."
Entering her senior season, Pam Rosanio will continue to be a leader in the backcourt. The Southampton, Pa. native has finished in the top-three on the team in scoring in her first three seasons. She was also named Second Team All-Conference two of those years. Rosanio averaged 11.1 points and 5.3 points per game while dishing out 74 assists. She scored a career-high 25 points versus Vermont last Friday to become the 17th player in UMass history to reach 1,000.
"When it comes to Pam, I look at her hustle. She's always the first one down the floor and the first one on the break," said Coach Dacko. "She's worked hard at her game, trying to get other opportunities and finding ways to score off the perimeter using screens. Pam's worked on playing effective defense and being able to create some shots for other people. I think she's really going to have an outstanding year."
THE BULLDOG'S A DEEP THREAT
Kim Benton, aka The Bulldog, is one of UMass' top three-point specialists and looks to build upon a successful freshman season. Benton enters her sophomore season looking to improve other parts of her game while still being the Minutewomen's sharp-shooter from the outside. She was 2-4 from long range in the opener. Benton nailed 50 three's last year, the third highest total in school history, and shot .350 from long range.
"Kim understands the leadership role from the point guard position," Coach Dacko said. "She is a great shooter, but she's not someone who we want to just take outside shots. She has worked on finding other ways to score and helping her teammates score. Defensively, Kim has got to be able to really control the top of the perimeter for us to be successful."
Benton got her career-high of 18 points on Feb. 11 against Rhode Island. She set a new UMass Mullins Center record with six three-pointers. The previous record was four by several players.
SPEEDY SAKERA
Point guard Sakera Young split time with Kim Benton last season at the point. After her freshman season, that playing time has translated into experience running the UMass offensive attack.
In the season-opening win vs. Vermont, Young sank two free throws with four seconds left to put UMass up three and help seal the victory for the Minutewomen.
"Sakera is growing by leaps and bounds," Coach Dacko said. "She is becoming more vocal and becoming a leader. She brings us speed and is explosive. Sakera is seeing the floor much better. Her timing has gotten much better and her decision-making has improved."
LOOKING FOR ANOTHER HOT START
UMass is 2-0 for the third time in the last 10 seasons and will be looking to go 3-0 for just the second time in the last 10.
Last year UMass started the season 5-0 after beating Stephen F. Austin, 71-63, in the first round of the Best Western Roundball Classic on Nov. 25. It was the first time since the 1988-89 season that UMass kicked off the season 5-0.
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 last season marked 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.
The 17 wins in the regular season is the most since the 1997-98 team went 17-9 in the regular season. That year was the school's last NCAA Tournament team and advanced to the only A-10 Championship game.
PLAYING TEAM BASKETBALL
A good sign of team basketball is high assist numbers and UMass has certainly achieved that this last year. The Minutewomen ranked first in the A-10 averaging 16.2 assists a game and first with a 0.95 assist to turnover ratio.
The assists came from very unlikely spots though. The Minutewomen's starting front court combined for 233 assists while the back court had just 117. This can be attributed to Dacko's inside-outside style of basketball and the presence of Tamara Tatham and Kate Mills on the blocks drawing defensive pressure.
In two games this season it has been the guards racking up the most assists. Rosanio leads the team with nine while Young sits right behind her with seven.
The Minutewomen recorded an assist on 69 percent of their baskets last year.
So far this season they are on exacty the same pace, with 36 assists on 52 field goals (69%).
SHARP SHOOTERS
UMass was one of the top shooting team in the league last season. The Minutewomen finished second in the A-10 shooting 44 percent from the field and were just .005 points behind first-place Temple.
Kate Mills led the league in 2006-07, shooting .538 from the floor (193-of-359).
In this season's two games UMass is shooting 43 percent (52-121) from the floor and 37 percent (10-27) from three-point range.
Stefanie Gerardot leads the team this season, shooting a stellar 75 percent (12-16) from the floor.
MILLS NAMED TO A-10 PRESEASON TEAM
Prior to the start of the 2007-08 season, senior forward Kate Mills was named to the Atlantic 10 Preseason All-Conference Second Team as voted on by the league's coaches and media.
Mills, a Third-Team All-Conference selection at the conclusion of last season, was UMass' leading scorer averaging 16.1 points per game. She also led the club in field goal percentage (.538), free throw percentage (.819), and blocks (64). She finished second on the team in minutes (1004) and rebounds (6.9 per game). Her field goal percentage was also tops in the A-10, while her blocks total was good for second in the conference. In all, Mills finished in the top 15 in the conference in seven individual statistical categories. She recorded her 1000th career point, becoming the 16th player in school history to do so, on March 2 versus St. Bonaventure.
UMASS PICKED TO FINISH 7TH IN ATLANTIC 10 PRESEASON COACHES/MEDIA POLL
The Minutewomen were picked to finish seventh in the A-10 Coaches/Media Poll among the 14-team conference earlier this season. George Washington, the 2006-07 A-10 champ, was unanimously picked to repeat.
Xavier and Charlotte tied in votes for second. They finished third and fourth, respectively, last season. Temple was predicted to drop from second to fourth place while Saint Joseph's slipped from fifth to sixth. Richmond was picked to move up from a three-way tie with UMass and La Salle in 2006-07 to fifth this season.
NEXT GAME: VS. JACKSONVILLE (AT EAST CAROLINA)
The Minutewomen's season-long four-game road trip continues Thanksgiving weekend when they travel to Greenville, N.C. for the East Carolina Lady Pirate Invitational.
UMass plays Jacksonville in the first round on Friday Nov. 23 at 7 p.m. It will be the first time the two programs have met on the basketball court.
The other first round match-up will be the host ECU Pirates and the Winthrop Eagles. The winners and losers of Friday's games will play on Saturday.
Both UMass games from ECU will be carried on WMUA 91.1 FM and on UMassAthletics.com. 
