Nov. 12, 2009
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AMHERST, Mass. -
The UMass women's basketball team will kick off the 2009-10 season this Sunday, Nov. 15, at home against Boston University at 2 p.m., with all fans in attendance receiving 2009-10 Minutewomen posters and schedule cards. The game will be carried on WMUA 91.1 FM and live stats will available via Gametracker at UMassAthletics.com. Streaming video of Sunday's contest, and every home game throughout the season, will be offered through UMass All-Access.
The Minutewomen Briefly
The 2009-10 Minutewomen are a balanced squad with two seniors, three juniors, three sophomores and three freshman. Sophomore Kristina Danella is the team's top returning scorer. She averaged 9.3 points per-game as a freshman in 2008-09 and is one of two returning starters along with senior Diatiema Hill (5.3 ppg, 2.9 apg in '08-'09). UMass was tabbed 11th in the A-10 preseason poll.
About The BU Terriers
BU opens 2009-10 on the road on Nov. 13 at Kentucky at 11 a.m., the nation's first collegiate women's basketball game of the season.
The Boston University women's basketball team has been selected to finish fourth in the preseason prognostications.
BU (25-8, 16-0) is coming off the program's best season which included an undefeated conference regular season and its first appearance in the postseason WNIT.
Senior forward Aly Hinton is the team's top returner in points (8.0 ppg), rebounds (4.9 rpg), assists (1.0 apg) and steals (18).
During her freshman campaign, sophomore Alex Young averaged 4.1 points per game from off the bench, improving to 5.1 points per game in league play.
Five freshmen, three guards and two forwards, also join the Terriers in 2009-10.
The Terriers are led by sixth-year head coach Kelly Greenberg, who is the first BU women's basketball coach to win 20 games in consecutive seasons.
Seniors Aly Hinton and Maggie McKemie along with junior Krystyn McIntyre have been named captains for the 2009-10 Boston University women's basketball team. The trio will lead a freshman-laden squad of six rookies and nine underclassmen.
In 2008-09, the Terriers reached new heights as they broke a team record for wins in a season (25) and boasted a 19-game winning streak, while also running the America East regular season table at 16-0. BU was also one of just four teams in the nation that went unbeaten in its respective conference last year.
AGAINST BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Series History
UMass is 10-11 all-time against Boston University with a 4-3 mark at home. BU has won five of the last six meetings in the series that first began on Dec. 21, 1977. UMass' last victory came on Mar. 3, 1993, a 63-56 win at home.
Last Time Against The Terriers
For a second straight game, the UMass women's basketball team shot above 50% from the field, but the result was the same as against Seton Hall earlier in the week as the Minutewomen fell to Boston University, 82-75, in the Mullins Center on Jan. 2, 2009.
Stefanie Gerardot had her fourth 20-point game of the season for the Minutewomen as she poured in 23 on 9-for-13 shooting and chipped in five rebounds. Diatiema Hill followed with 15 points as she went 6-for-12 from the field on her way to a new career high.
BU led from the opening moments, beginning the contest with a 5-0 lead courtesy of two buckets by Kristi Dini. Down by five with 17:38 to go in the first, UMass strung together eight straight points to take its first and only lead of the game at 13-10.
The Minutewomen were on top for just over a minute when a three by Dini sparked a 19-6 run by the Terriers, giving BU a 32-19 advantage with 8:16 remaining in the first.
UMass' seven-point halftime deficit proved to be the difference in the game as the squad played even with Boston University in the final period with each side managing 36 points after the intermission.
The Minutewomen reigned in the Terriers early in the second half, cutting their deficit to two with a layup by Sakera Young at the 14:11 mark, which capped off an 8-0 UMass run. BU expanded its lead out to double figures once more before the Minutewomen made one last gasp at a comeback. A layup by Stephanie Lawrence with 3:38 to play made it a one possession deficit for UMass, but Boston University sunk clutch free throws in the final minutes to cement the victory.
The Minutewomen shot a season-best 54.5% from the field (30-55) and made 54.5% of their shots (6-for-22) from three-point range. The Terriers managed 49.1 shooting percentage and were 10-for-4 (41.7%) from beyond the arc.
RECENT NEWS
DeMarco Joins Women's Basketball Coaching Staff
Cecelia DeMarco, who has led women's basketball programs at New Hampshire, Yale and MIT, was named an assistant coach at UMass on Oct. 22. DeMarco brings a wealth of knowledge to the Minutewomen basketball staff, including more than 20 years of experience coaching at the collegiate level.
DeMarco served as interim head coach at MIT in 2007-08, leading the squad to its best record in more than 10 seasons and a berth into the NEWMAC Championship for just the second time in program history.
She previously spent nine years as the head women's basketball coach at Yale from 1990-1999, becoming the Bulldogs' all-time leader in coaching victories. During her time at Yale, DeMarco lifted the program from last place to third in the Ivy League.
From 1977 to 1986, prior being promoted to Associate Director of Athletics in 1987-88, DeMarco was the frontwoman for the University of New Hampshire women's basketball program. DeMarco led the UNH Wildcats to seven winning campaigns and two conference championships, making nine consecutive postseason appearances and compiling a career record of 135-86. After guiding New Hampshire to a 24-7 mark in 1983, DeMarco was named Converse District Coach of the Year. She was inducted into the University of New Hampshire Athletic Hall of Fame in 1997.
DeMarco began her career in collegiate coaching as an assistant at Washington State in 1976-77 where she earned her masters in Physical Education.
UMass' Tatham Helps Canada Qualify For 2010 FIBA Worlds
Former UMass women's basketball standout Tamara Tatham competed for her country at the FIBA Americas Championship this fall and helped Team Canada qualify for the 2010 FIBA World Championship. Canada won bronze at the tournament, held in Cuiabá, Brazil, Sept. 23-27, after defeating Cuba, 59-49.
Over five games, Tatham played a total of 98 minutes and averaged 6.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists. She scored a tournament-high 13 points in a 103-37 victory over the Dominican Republic and contributed nine in a 70-57 come-from-behind win over Puerto Rico.
A 2007 graduate, Tatham played professionally in 2008-09 with the Halle Lions in Halle, Germany. The 6-1 forward finished her career with the Minutewomen 10th all-time in scoring (1,186 points) and ranks in the top-10 for career steals (4th, 190), rebounds (5th, 755), blocks (8th, 115) and free throws (8th, 282), as well.
TEAM NOTES
For Openers
The Minutewomen are 18-23 overall in season-openers, including a 10-7 mark at home.
Head Coach Marnie Dacko is 3-4 in season openers at UMass. She won her UMass debut against Sacred Heart at the Mullins Center and picked up wins over Vermont in 2006-07 and 2007-08.
Sharp Shooters Beyond The Arc
It was a record-breaking year beyond the arc for women's basketball in 2008-09 as the squad shattered the program's all-time mark for three-point field goals with 195 (previous mark was 117 in 2002-03). For the first time in school history, three Minutewomen registered 40 or more three-pointers in a season. The 2009-10 returnees accounted for 141 of those 195 treys.
PLAYER NOTES
#2 Emilie Teuscher
Limited by injury for much of 2008-09, Emilie Teuscher played in 14 games for a total of 44 minutes as a freshman. Her season high in minutes played (9) came against Manhattan.
#10 Megan Zullo
Megan Zullo, who sat out 2008-09 after transferring from N.C. State, will see her first action in a Mintutewomen uniform. She averaged 5.4 points, 1.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists as a redshirt freshman for the Wolfpack in 2007-08 and led the squad with a 1.5 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Zullo is the first player in UMass history to hail from North Carolina (Greenville) and has a twin sister, Kim.
She is the niece of former UMass standout, the late Christel Zullo, whose 23-year-old record for assists in a game (15) still stands. Megan has chosen to wear #10 (Christel's number) in her aunt's honor. Christel Zullo finished her career with 533 assists, which ranks second all-time.
#12 Cerie Mosgrove
Cerie Mosgrove had a breakout sophomore season, which included seven games scoring in double figures, and led the team in scoring in four games in 2008-09. Her three-point field goal total (51) from last season ranks fourth in program history. She is currently sixth all-time in career three-point percentage (.348).
Mosgrove started the first 11 games of 2008-09, her first of her career coming in the season opener at Vermont.
#15 Shakia Robinson
Shakia Robinson averaged 16.4 points and 9.1 rebounds per-game at North Penn High School. She enjoys photography and aspires to major in Chemical Engineering at UMass.
Robinson is the sixth player in program history to wear #15. Two of the previous five (Keyburn McCukser and Kathy Coyner) finished their careers at UMass as 1,000-point scorers.
#21 Kim Benton
Kim Benton is the most experienced member of the 2009-10 Minutewomen squad as she has 89 career games played and 38 starts. No other Minutewoman has played over 60 career contests.
Benton earned a spot in the UMass single season top-10 as a freshman in 2006-07 with 50 treys, which is now tied for fifth on the list. She hit her 100th career three-pointer against URI on Feb. 22, 2009 and enters her senior campaign fourth all-time in career threes with 102.
#22 Stephanie Lawrence
Stephanie Lawrence, a native of Rigaud, Quebec, is the lone international player on the UMass roster.
Lawrence made her first career start in the 2008-09 season opener at Vermont. She scored in double figures three times as a sophomore, including 11 points in a win over Temple.
#23 Diatiema Hill
After missing all of 2007-08 with an injury, Diatiema Hill returned to the UMass lineup last season and started all but one of the squad's 30 contests.
Hill was UMass' leading rebounder on three occasions in 2008-09 and narrowly missed a triple-double against Northeastern with 11 points, eight boards and eight assists.
#25 Dee Montgomery
Dee Montgomery finished her career at Tennessee High School with over 1,700 points and four Big 9 Conference Championships. She helped Tennessee High to its first-ever state tournament.
#32 Jasmine Watson
Jasmine Watson comes to UMass out of South Bend Washington High School that earned a No. 2 ESPN RISE FAB 50 national ranking in 2008-09. Individually, Watson was rated as the No. 23-ranked forward nationally by Hoopgurlz.com.
#33 Kristina Danella
Kristina Danella enjoyed an outstanding freshman campaign, playing all 30 games and starting the final 19 of the season, on her way to Atlantic 10 All-Rookie team honors.
Danella tied the school record with a team-leading 58 three-pointers in 2008-09 and shot .406 from beyond the arc, good for fifth all-time.
In Atlantic 10 play, Danella averaged 13.3 points per-game, which led all A-10 freshmen. Overall, she scored in double figures 11 times with four 20-point games. She was named the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week four times in 2008-09, matching former Minutewoman Octavia Thomas' total from 1992-93, the most weekly honors for a first-year player in program history.
#44 Nicole Jones
In her collegiate debut, the 2008-09 season opener against Vermont, Nicole Jones just missed a double-double with eight points and eight rebounds. She finished the year with eight boards against Duquesne in the A-10 tournament to tie her career high. In total, Jones brought down 5+ rebounds on seven occasions in 2008-09 coming off the bench. 
