Dec. 10, 2009
AMHERST, Mass. -
The UMass women's basketball team will play its second straight at home on Friday night, Dec. 11, as the squad will play host to Providence at 6 p.m. in the opening game of a basketball doubleheader at the Mullins Center. Local area high school girls basketball teams will be in attendance for High School Night, which will feature a Canon digital camera package giveaway. Follow the action on UMass All-Access and 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 Providence Friars
The Friars are picked to finish this season in 15th place in the Big East Conference preseason poll after coming in 13th in the league in 2008-2009 with a conference record of 4-12.
Providence enters the game with a 7-2 record, its only losses coming against Pepperdine (64-51) and Hofstra (72-68).
The Friars are very experienced as eight of the squad's returning players saw action in at least 22 of the team's 30 games last season.
Five of the eight returners also saw time as members of the starting lineup.
The Friars are led by Chelsea Marandola who is averaging 18.2 points per-game and has led the team in scoring in six of the nine games played.
Mi-Khada Hankins is second in scoring with 16.0 points per-game, and also leads the team in rebounds 6.1 per-game.
Brittany Dorsey and Emily Cournoyer are also averaging double figures in scoring for Providence at 10.3 and 10.0 points-per game. Cournoyer also chips in 6.0 rebounds per-game.
Series History
Friday's meeting will be the 16th all-time between UMass and Providence since the series began in 1977. The Friars hold a slight 9-7 advantage in the series. The Minutewomen are 3-3 at home all-time against Providence.
Battling On The Boards
UMass has out-rebounded its opponent seven times in 10 games thus far, including eight of the past nine games.
Every player on the Minutewomen roster grabbed at least one rebound against Vermont.
Though no UMass players rank in the top-10 in the league, three Minutewomen hold averaged of 5+ rebounds per-game (Kristina Danella 6.3, Diatiema Hill 5.5, Jasmine Watson 5.3), while a fourth, Nicole Jones, is just shy of that mark at 4.7 rebounds per-game.
Power Reserve
UMass' bench has been contributing in a big way recently as the Minutewomen held a 43-14 edge in bench points against Brown, a 38-10 margin vs. Quinnipiac and led 22-6 against Vermont.
The Minutewomen bench has accounted for an average of 23.4 points per-game, led by Megan Zullo (8.4 ppg) and Jasmine Watson (8.0 ppg). Zullo has scored in double figures four times in 10 games and Watson three times.
Watson has collected 5+ rebounds on six occasions in 10 games and has led the team in rebounding twice (at New Hampshire and vs. Vermont).
Sophomore Standout
Sophomore Kristina Danella has led the Minutewomen in scoring in six of 10 games thus far with a season-high 21 points coming against BU. She was the top point-producer eight times in 2008-09 as a freshman.
Danella grabbed a squad-best nine boards against Miami, the seventh 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 415 points. In career rebounds, she is second behind Diatiema Hill with 200. She scored her 400th career point on Dec. 5 vs. Brown and grabbed her 200th career board vs. Vermont on Dec. 9.
As the team's leading scorer, Danella is ninth in the Atlantic 10 with an average of 13.6 points per-game. She is sixth in free throw percentage (.862) and ninth in three-point field goals made (18, 1.8 per-game).
Solid At The Stripe
Sophomore Kristina Danella made 27 straight free throws in a streak that spanned four games (11/20 vs. New Hampshire-11/28 vs. Miami), the second longest by a Minutewoman in program history. Kathy Coyner made 31 consecutive free throws from Nov. 14, 1998 (St. John's) to Dec. 15, 1998 (Texas A&M).
Danella was a perfect 12-for-12 at the line against Rice, tying a school record for single game free throw percentage (minimum 10 attempts), last achieved 16 years ago by Melissa Gurile (15-for-15) on Dec. 11, 1993 vs. Providence.
She went 10-for-14 at the line in UMass' overtime win against Boston University in the season opener, including sinking three to tie the score at 67 with 17 seconds remaining in regulation. Danella then made five of her six free throws in the extra period, accounting for nearly half of the squad's points.
Just four games later, the individual free throw percentage single game mark was matched again as Diatiema Hill was flawless at the line against Quinnipiac on Dec. 6, making 11-of-11.
Hill has converted 20-of-21 free throw attempts on the year for a 95.2 free throw percentage, which leads the Atlantic 10.
Two more Minutewomen, Kim Benton and Megan Zullo, are perfect at the charity stripe this season, going 14-for-15 and 11-for-11, respectively.
20-20
For the first time since Jan. 2, 2008, two UMass players had 20-point games on the same night as Diatiema Hill and Megan Zullo poured in 21 and 20, respectively in the Minutewomen's 82-66 victory over Quinnipiac on Dec. 6.
The last two players to accomplish the feat were Pam Rosanio (21) and Kate Mills (20) against Longwood.
Zullo shot a remarkable 6-for-8 (.750) from three-point range against the Bobcats, accounting for 18 of her 20, and was 2-for-2 at the charity stripe.
Hill Reaching New Heights
Senior Diatiema Hill had a career game against Quinnipiac in the Brown Classic championship on Dec. 6 as she posted new career highs in points (21) and rebounds (14) for her first career double-double, first career 20-point game and first career 10-rebound game.
Hill had six assists against the Bobcats as well and is currently fifth in the Atlantic 10 in assists per-game with an average of 3.5. She ranks third in the conference in assist to turnover ratio at 1.6 and is 10th in average minutes played (31.7)
She has been a big factor in the Minutewomen's success as she has averaged 10.4 points and 7.8 rebounds per-game in UMass victories and just 2.8 points and 3.2 rebounds in the squad's losses.
Twice As Nice
For the second straight year, UMass took home the title at the Brown Bear Classic, posting wins over Brown (69-54) and Quinnipiac (82-66). Kristina Danella (14.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg) and Diatiema Hill (11.0 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 3.0 apg) were named to the Brown Bear Classic All-Tournament Team.
Earlier this season, The Minutewomen took home the runner-up trophy at the Wyndham Miami Thanksgiving Tournament after defeating Rice, 71-57, to advance to the championship game where the squad was narrowly defeated by the host Hurricanes. Danella (17.5 ppg, 8.0 rpg) and Nicole Jones (11.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 3.0 bpg) both represented UMass on the All-Tournament team.
Over the past two seasons, UMass holds a 6-2 record when playing at in-season tournaments.
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.
Watson has scored eight or more and has grabbed five-plus rebounds in five of the past six games and had her best performance yet against Vermont, leading the squad in scoring with 14 and rebounding with nine.
She is averaging 8.0 points per-game and 5.3 rebounds per-game on the year. She is currently eighth in the Atlantic 10 with an average of 1.2 blocks per-game.
First 10
Not only did freshman Dee Montgomery score her first collegiate points on Dec. 2 at Northeastern, but managed to reach double figures for the first time as well, pouring in 10 points in just 13 minutes on the floor.
At the 4:37 mark in the second half, Montgomery sunk a three and made a free throw to successfully complete a four-point play.
Montgomery saw the most time in her young career thus far against Vermont on Dec. 9, playing a career-high 16 minutes.
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, 109), Kristina Danella (9th, 76) and Cerie Mosgrove (10th, 75) are among the all-time leaders for career three-point field goals.
With four threes against UNH, Mosgrove passed Alison MacFarland (67) for ninth on the list. Danella cracked the top-10 against Miami.
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.
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 rebounders 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 surpassed her freshman year scoring total (43 points in 23 games) just five games into her sophomore campaign.
Jones leads the Minutewomen with a .559 (38-68) field goal percentage and is third in the Atlantic 10. She ranks fifth in the conference with an average of 1.3 blocks per-game.
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.
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. 
