Nov. 25, 2009
AMHERST, Mass. -
The UMass women's basketball team will head south for the holiday as the squad will be taking part in the University of Miami Thanksgiving Tournament in Coral Gables, Fla., this Friday and Saturday, Nov. 28-28. On Friday evening at 5 p.m., the Minutewomen (2-2) will open up against the Rice Owls (0-4) and will take on either Miami or Long Beach State on Saturday at 5 p.m. or 7 p.m. Live audio of both games will be available on WMUA 91.1 FM.
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 Rice Owls
The Rice Owls came into 2009-10 looking to improve from the 2008-09 season, where they finished with a record of 7-23 and 2-14 in the C-USA.
Rice is still in search of its first win on the season, entering the University of Miami Thanksgiving Tournament at 0-4, having played three of the four contests on the road. Jackie Stanley is the squad's leading scorer with an average of 10.5 points per-game, while Brianna Hypolite is the top rebounder for the Owls with 20 on the year, an average of 5.0 per-contest.
The Owls return nine letterwinners, led by sophomore D'Frantz Smart. Smart was named to the C-USA All-Freshman team. She was second on the squad and led all freshmen in the C-USA in scoring with 10.8 points per-game. She also was tops in C-USA in steals per-game with 2.33 and fifth in assists (4.52). Smart was the team's top scorer eight times as a freshman in 2008-09.
Tara Watts has started the last 66 games for Rice. Watts started all 32 games as a sophomore (2007-08) and all 30 a year ago. As a junior, Watts was in double-digit scoring five times and led the team with 39 made three-pointers, as well.
Against SFA, Freshman Lacey Neu came of the bench to lead four Owls in double-digit scoring with 14 points. Neu also had snared a team-best eight rebounds. Jackie Stanley had 13 points and two blocked shots, while reserve guard Amenemope McKinney poured in a season-high 12 points.
Series History
In limited meetings against the tournament field, UMass is 0-3 combined against Rice (0-2) and Miami (0-1) and has never faced Long Beach State.
Two of the three games, including both most recent meetings against the Owls and the Hurricanes were played at home in Amherst, a 65-60 triple overtime loss to Rice on Nov. 20, 2001, and a 76-58 setback to Miami on Jan. 9, 1990.
UMass' triple overtime game against Rice still stands as the longest game in program history.
Last Time Against The Owls
The University of Massachusetts women's basketball team was defeated, 65-60, in triple-overtime by Rice on Nov. 20, 2001 at the Mullins Center. It was the first triple-overtime game in program history.
With under 10 seconds remaining in regulation junior Ebony Pegues drove the length of the floor and scored on a layup to tie the score, 49-49, and force overtime. The Owls' Johnetta Hayes scored a basket with 1:12 seconds remaining in the first overtime to tie the score, 53-53, and force another period.
Junior Jennifer Butler scored the final four points in the second overtime, including a basket with under a second left, to tie the game, 60-60, and force the third and final overtime period. Butler finished with a game-high 19 points, 14 rebounds and five steals. Rice outscored Massachusetts 5-0 in the third overtime to earn the victory.
Rice led by as many as seven early in the first half, but the Minutewomen battled back to tie the game, 20-20, at the 2:33 mark. Freshman Katie Nelson pushed the ball to Pegues who scored on the fastbreak to spark a run for UMass. The Minutewomen went 3-for-6 in the final three minutes to enter halftime with a one-point lead.
After the break, the Minutewomen and Owls exchanged basket for basket. Butler scored 10 of the first 12 points of the second half for UMass, to keep the Minutewomen in contention.
With 8:46 remaining in the game, junior Amber Sneed scored from the elbow to extend the Minutewoman lead to five. Senior Caroline Nehls put the Minutewomen up by nine with 6:03 remaining in the game, but UMass could not hold onto the lead. Junior Nekole Smith and Butler each picked up their fourth foul with five minutes to go, forcing them to the bench. The Owls battled back to take the lead with 1:16 left in regulation when LaTonya Sam hit two free throws making the score, 47-46, in favor of the Owls.
Sneed finished the game with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Nelson finished with 10 points and six assists.
Leading The Way
Sophomore Kristina Danella has led the Minutewomen in scoring in all three of four 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 337 points. In career rebounds, she is second behind Diatiema Hill with 161.
As the Minutewomen's leading scorer with an average of 14.5 points per-game, Danella entered the week ranked ninth in the Atlantic 10 in scoring and is eighth in minutes played with an average of 32.5 per-game. Danella has been to the free throw line a team-high 28 times and is shooting 23-for-28 (82.1%) from the charity stripe. She is tied with classmate Nicole Jones for the team lead in rebounds with 24, an average of 6.0 per-game.
Mosgrove Helping Out On The Glass
With an average of 4.8 rebounds per-game, junior Cerie Mosgrove has been chipping in along the glass for the Minutewomen. Mosgrove, who had only posted five rebounds in a game once prior to the 2009-10 season, set a career high with six boards against St. John's and had five vs. Villanova.
Jones Has Breakout Game Against Villanova
Sophomore Nicole Jones helped carry UMass to victory against Villanova, totaling 22 of the squad's 55 points and leading all rebounder with 12.
It marked career highs in both points and rebounds for the center, was her first career double-double, first career 20-point game , first career 10-rebound game and first time as UMass' top scorer.
Jones shot 9-for-11 (.818) in the contest, the best single-game shooting percentage for a Minutewoman since Pam Rosanio went 9-for-11 against Longwood on Jan. 3, 2008. Jones' 9-for-11 is also the second-best performance by any player in the Atlantic 10 this season.
Jones enters the Miami Tournament with 40 points on the year, for an average of 10 per-game, just three shy of her total from freshman season (43 points in 23 games).
Jones leads the Minutewomen with a .600 (15-25) field goal percentage, which ranks second in the A-10. She is tied with Kristina Danella for the team lead in rebounds, (24, 6.0 per-game) and has been UMass' top rebounder in two of four contests on the season. Jones was the leading rebounder on the squad once last season with five boards against Xavier.
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.
In-Season Tournament Success
UMass went 3-1 in in-season tournament games in 2008-09, finishing as the runner-up at the Coors Classic in Colorado and winning the Brown Bear Classic in Providence, R.I.
Current junior Cerie Mosgrove was an all-tournament team selection at both the Coors Classic and the Brown Bear Classic last season. She averaged 13.0 points per-game at the Coors Classic, including 17 points against Minnesota in the tournament championship game.
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, 71) and Kristina Danella (12th, 63) 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. 
