Nov. 21, 2009
AMHERST, Mass. -
Looking to snap a two game skid, the UMass women's basketball team returns home to the Mullins Center on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 22, and will face its second BIG EAST opponent of the season, taking on Villanova at 2 p.m. The action will be carried on WMUA 91.1 FM and live stats will available via Gametracker at UMassAthletics.com. Streaming video of this 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 Villanova Wildcats
Villanova enters Sunday's contest with the Minutewomen holding a 2-0 record on the season with wins over Sacred Heart (50-49) and Penn (44-28). Maria Getty is the top scorer for the Wildcats thus far with an average of 12.0 points per-game after leading the way against Penn with 15. Megan Pearson and Heather Scanlon have a squad-best 10 rebounds apiece on the year for an average of 5.0 per-game.
The Wildcats are coming off a 2008-09 season where they posted a 19-14 overall record and finished 10-6 in the BIG EAST (T-4th), earning an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament.
Villanova lost three of its top four scorers from a year ago, a group that accounted for 57.2% of the team's scoring. The squad returns seven letterwinners.
The bulk of the Wildcats' experience lies in their backcourt. This group is led by fifth-year senior Maria Getty, who has started 94 of 95 games in her career. Last year, Getty led the Wildcats in three-point field goals made with 50. She also ranked second on the team in scoring with 8.3 points per game, assists with 65, and steals with 27.
Perretta is in his 32nd year coaching with the Wildcats. Prior to the start of the season, Perretta held an overall record of 553-329, placing him 21st on the winningest active collegiate coaching list.
The Wildcats were picked to finish 13th in the BIG EAST preseason poll. Four teams from the BIG EAST are ranked in the AP Top 25 poll, three others received votes. This includes reigning national champion Connecticut.
Series History
Villanova holds a 1-3 edge in the all-time series with UMass, which began in the 1981-82 season. The Minutewomen posted a 55-50 victory over the Wildcats on Dec. 11, 2002, in the Curry Hicks Cage for the squad's lone win in the series.
Last Time Against The Wildcats
UMass women's basketball fell on the road to Villanova, 75-51, at The Pavilion on Dec. 11, 2007. Kate Mills led the Minutewomen with 18 points on 8-for-10 shooting. Pam Rosanio added nine for UMass, while Sakera Young scored eight points, all in the second half, and led the team with six rebounds. Stacie Witman led Villanova with 21 points on a night that saw the Wildcats make 15 three-pointers. UMass drops to 4-6 on the season, while Villanova improves to 8-2.
The Minutewomen took a 9-6 lead to start the game, led by Mills with four. The Wildcats then came back to tie the score at 15-15 with 13:00 minutes remaining in the half and would go on to outscore UMass 26-8 over the next 9:43 to open up a 41-23 lead. The Minutewomen held Villanova scoreless over the final 3:16 of the half and used a 4-0 spurt to go into halftime down, 41-27.
Mills led UMass in the first half with 14 points on 6-for-7 shooting and Rosanio added six points. The Minutewomen shot 47.8% (11-23) and were 2-for-3 from long-range. The Wildcats shot 10-for-21 from three-point range in the first half, while shooting 51.7% (15-29) overall. Lisa Karcic led the way for Villanova with 11 points and Witman added nine.
Villanova scored the first eight points of the second half to widen the led to 50-27, with 17:06 to go. That lead would prove to be enough, as the teams traded baskets throughout the second half. Freshman Cerie Mosgrove came off the bench to score five points in the final 1:17 for the Minutewomen.
For the game, UMass shot 42% (21-50) overall and 30% (3-10) from behind the arc. Villanova shot 48.3% (29-60) from the floor and 41.7% (15-36) from three-point range. The Wildcats entered the game as the leading three-point shooting team in the country at 10.7 per game. The Minutewomen out-rebounded the Wildcats, 34-29.
Leading The Way
Sophomore Kristina Danella has led the Minutewomen in scoring in all three games thus far with 21 points against BU, 16 vs. St. John's and 14 at New Hampshire. She was the top point-producer eight times in 2008-09 as a freshman.
Danella grabbed a squad-best seven boards against the Red Storm, the sixth time in her career she has been the leading rebounder for the Minutewomen.
Trailing only Kim Benton, Danella is second among active Minutewomen players in career scoring with 330 points. In career rebounds, she is second behind Diatiema Hill with 155.
One To Watch
After posting three blocks in her collegiate debut, freshman Jasmine Watson found her scoring touch in her second game with the Minutewomen, pouring in 14 points in 24 minutes against St. John's on Nov. 18. Watson shot 5-for-10 from the field against the Red Storm and was a perfect 4-for-4 at the free throw line.
Following up that performance, Watson was the leading rebounder for the Minutewomen against New Hampshire with seven boards and had two steals.
Three Party
Redshirt junior Megan Zullo, along with Kristina Danella, had a team-high 14 points against New Hampshire, her first time scoring in double figures as a Minutewoman.
Zullo drained four three-pointers, all in the first half, against the Wildcats and shot 4-for-7 from beyond the arc in the contest. As a team, UMass ended the evening shooting 11-for-24 (45.8%) from three point range, including 8-for-14 (57.1%) in the first half.
The Minutewomen set the program record for three-pointers in a game last season with 14 against Northeastern on Dec. 20, 2008.
Extra Minutes
UMass' 79-73 overtime victory against Boston University was the first overtime game for the Minutewomen since Jan. 9, 2007, at Rhode Island (71-69 Loss) and the first at the Mullins Center since Jan. 16, 2003, an 89-80 win over Temple.
Fab Five
UMass' starting five (Kristina Danella, Nicole Jones, Cerie Mosgrove, Kim Benton and Diatiema Hill) played a huge role in the win over Boston University on Nov. 15, combining for 73 of the team's 79 points and contributing 29 of 44 rebounds.
Four of the five (Danella, Jones, Benton and Hill) scored in double figures, while Mosgrove was just shy with seven points. UMass had four scorers in double figures four times in 2008-09 (New Hampshire, NJIT, Temple and La Salle) and posted a 4-0 record in those contests.
Reaching New Heights
Senior Kim Benton and sophomore Nicole Jones both posted career highs in UMass' season opener against Boston University.
Benton tied her career best with 18 points, originally set on Feb. 11, 2007, against Rhode Island and matched her career best in minutes played (39), first achieved on Dec. 17, 2006.
In her first collegiate start, Jones flirted with a double-double as she posted new highs in points (13) and rebounds (9). The center had four steals and three blocks as well in her 31 minutes on the floor.
New Faces
Three of UMass' four newcomers saw action in the season opener against Boston University on Nov. 15, Megan Zullo, Shakia Robinson and Jasmine Watson all played their first games in a Minutewoman uniform. Robinson contributed six rebounds and Watson had three blocks, in 16 and 15 minutes on the floor, respectively. The fourth newcomer, Dee Montgomery, saw her first collegiate action against St. John's on Nov. 18.
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, including Kristina Danella and Cerie Mosgrove whose final 2008-09 totals rank tied for first (58) and fourth (51), respectively, on the UMass single season list.
Three current Minutewomen, Kim Benton (fourth, 107), Cerie Mosgrove (9th, 70) and Kristina Danella (t-12th, 62) are among the all-time leaders for career field goals.
With four threes against UNH, Mosgrove passed Alison MacFarland (67) for ninth on the list. 
