Dec. 18, 2009
AMHERST, Mass. -
In its first action following the final exam break, the UMass women's basketball team will travel to Newark, N.J., this Sunday, Dec. 20, to take on NJIT in a 12 p.m. contest. The Minutewomen are 5-6 on the year and will enter the game looking to snap a two-game skid.
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 NJIT Highlanders
With a game to play at Lehigh before taking on the Minutewomen, NJIT enters the weekend at 3-5 on the year with wins over Wagner (68-56), Maine (63-50) and Colgate (52-41). All three victories have come at home.
At the beginning of the 2009-2010, three members from the NJIT squad received Great West Conference Preseason Honors as the squad entered its first campaign as a member of the newly-formed conference. Jessica Gerald was named to the All-Great West Conference first team. Twins Taiwo Oyelola and Kahinde Oyelola were honorable mention selectees.
Gerald, though she missed the last 10 games due to a broken ankle, scored 318 points and averaged 16.7 last year to lead the team. In 16 out of the 19 games she played, she scored double figures, eight in which she scored at least 20 points. Entering Friday's contest against Lehigh, Gerald holds a season average of 14.3 per-game.
Taiwo Oyelola led NJIT last season with 164 rebounds. The Oyelola twins are each averaging a team-best 5.8 rebounds per-game entering the weekend.
NJIT returned seven letterwinners and welcomed six freshmen for this season.
Series History
Sunday's game will mark UMass' second meeting with NJIT, a series the Minutewomen lead 1-0 after first facing the Highlanders at home in 2008-09.
Last Time Against NJIT
UMass women's basketball used a 27-5 second half run to carry the squad to a 63-50 victory over NJIT on Jan. 7, 2009, in the Mullins Center.
Four UMass players scored in double figures for the second time on the season, led by freshman Kristina Danella, who logged all 16 of her points after the intermission and also grabbed seven rebounds. Sophomore Teya Wright and senior Stefanie Gerardot followed with 12 points apiece, while Wright finished the night with a team-best eight boards. Senior Sakera Young chipped in with 10 points and six rebounds, redshirt sophomore Diatiema Hill had seven points and a career-best five steals, all in the second half, and freshman Nicole Jones pulled down six rebounds and registered two blocks.
The Minutewomen began the game in a 5-0 hole, but Young rattled off eight of the team's first 10 points, to give UMass a 10-7 edge at the 15:32 mark. A pair of free throws by Gerardot then put the Minutewomen up by five, their largest advantage of the opening period. Neither side managed to take more than a four-point lead again until an 8-0 run by NJIT put the Highlanders back on top, 27-21, with 3:47 remaining in the period.
UMass scored the final four points of the first half to pull within two at 30-28 and then drained 10 field goals and three free throws over the opening 8:26 of the second period to build a 55-35 edge. During that stretch, the Minutewomen held NJIT to only one field goal as the Highlanders shot a mere 23.1% (6-for-26) in the second half after shooting 13-for-27 (48.1%) in the first. That stretch would be all UMass would need as the team led by double figures for the rest of the way.
Jessica Gerald paced NJIT with 20 points, 15 of which came in the first half, and was the only member of the Highlanders to reach double figures. Ivana Seric had eight points and eight rebounds and Kehinde Oyelola totaled seven points.
UMass, which shot 21-55 (38.2%) in the contest, led in points in the paint, 28-22, points off turnovers, 21-10, second chance points, 14-6, and fast break points, 4-2. The Highlanders scored more bench points by a 15-6 margin.
Benton Reaches Century Mark
Senior Kim Benton played in her 100th career game on Dec. 11 vs. Providence, the 34th individual in program history to reach the milestone. She leads all active Minutewomen in games played.
Sabriya Mitchell holds the program record for games played at 118 in a career that spanned 1994 to 1998.
Battling On The Boards
UMass has out-rebounded its opponent eight times in 11 games thus far, including nine of the past 10 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, four Minutewomen hold averages of 5+ rebounds per-game, Kristina Danella (6.5), Diatiema Hill (5.8), Jasmine Watson (5.3) and Nicole Jones (5.3).
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 22.2 points per-game, led by Megan Zullo (8.4 ppg) and Jasmine Watson (7.9 ppg). Zullo has scored in double figures four times in 10 games and Watson three times.
Watson has collected 5+ rebounds on seven occasions in 11 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 seven of 11 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 432 points. In career rebounds, she is second behind Diatiema Hill with 208. 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 eighth in the Atlantic 10 with an average of 13.9 points per-game. She is fifth in free throw percentage (.873), tied for seventh in three-point field goals made (20, 1.8 per-game) and 10th in average minutes played (31.8).
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 has been perfect at the line in six games this season.
Danella 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. She 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 25-of-27 free throw attempts on the year for a 92.6 free throw percentage, which ranks second in the Atlantic 10.
Two more Minutewomen, Kim Benton and Megan Zullo, are perfect at the charity stripe this season, going 14-for-14 and 11-for-11, respectively.
20-20 Vision
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.
Four different Minutewomen have logged at least one 20-point game this year, Nicole Jones, Hill, Kristina Danella and Zullo.
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 3.3. She ranks second in the conference in assist to turnover ratio at 1.5 and is ninth in average minutes played (31.9)
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 3.8 points and 4.2 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 seven or more and has grabbed five-plus rebounds in six of the past seven games and had her best performance yet against Vermont, leading the squad in scoring with 14 and rebounding with nine.
She is averaging 7.9 points per-game and 5.3 rebounds per-game on the year. She is currently 11th in the Atlantic 10 with an average of 1.1 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, 110), Kristina Danella (9th, 78) and Cerie Mosgrove (10th, 76) 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.
UMass currently leads the Atlantic 10 in three-pointers made per-game with an average of 6.3
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 .519 (40-77) field goal percentage and is 10th in the Atlantic 10. She is tied for sixth in the conference with 1.2 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. 
