University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
Maine
Minutewomen Cruise Past Maine, 74-55
December 08, 2007 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 8, 2007
Box Score |
Photo Gallery 
AMHERST, Mass. - Behind 19 points and six assists from Pam Rosanio (Southampton, Pa.), UMass women's basketball cruised past Maine, 74-55, on Saturday afternoon at the Mullins Center. The senior guard was 8-for-11 shooting on the day. Kate Mills (Elkton, Md.) added 16 points, while Kim Benton (Springfield, Pa.) added 13, including three three-pointers. Marnie Dacko's club utilized team basketball, collecting a season-high 24 assists on 27 field goals, while putting 10 players in the scoring column. Tanna Ross came off the bench to lead Maine with 20 points, including 6-for-8 from three-point range, as the UMass defense held the Black Bears' starters to 10 combined points. The Minutewomen improve to 4-5, including a perfect 4-0 at home, while Maine falls to 1-7.
The Minutewomen started the game hot, jumping out to a quick 6-0 lead. Mills and Rosanio combined to score UMass' first 13 points as the Minutewomen took a 13-6 lead with 13:43 to go in the half. The Black Bears came right back, using a 13-4 run over 4:34 to take their first lead of the game, 18-17, with 8:56 left. The teams would trade the lead three more times in the first half. The Minutewomen used a 9-0 spurt over the final 3:33 of the first half to take a 36-26 lead into the locker room.
UMass shot 50% (14-28) from the floor in the first half, including 3-for-5 from behind the arc. The Mills-Rosanio tandem led the Minutewomen with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Benton hit three three-pointers in the first half for nine points. Maine shot 35.7% (10-28) in the opening 20 minutes, with Sandra Vaitkute leading the team with eight points.
The Minutewomen came out strong again to start the second half, outscoring the Black Bears, 7-2, over the first three and a half minutes. They used an 8-0 run midway through the half to further extend the lead to 62-38, with 8:28 left. It stayed all Minutewomen down the stretch as Dacko was able to use her bench while securing a 74-55 victory.
UMass shot 52.9% (27-51) for the game, while Maine shot 40% (22-55). UMass scored 27 points off 26 Black Bears turnovers. Maine had the edge in rebounding, 34-29, while 5-5 point guard Benton led UMass with five boards. UMass dominated scoring in the paint, 34-18.
Saturday was Alumnae Day at the Mullins Center. A ceremony was held at halftime to announce the creation of the Christel Zullo Award in honor of UMass basketball alum Christel Zullo ('89), who lost her life to cancer in February. An Alumnae Game was also held at the Curry Hicks Cage.
The Minutewomen hit the road next week, playing at Villanova on Tuesday at 7 p.m., then traveling to Staten Island, N.Y. on Saturday Dec. 15, to take on Wagner in a 2 p.m. tip-off.
