Dec. 28, 2009
AMHERST, Mass. -
It its first game back following the holiday hiatus, the UMass women's basketball team will travel south to Newark, Del., for a game against Delaware on Wednesday evening, Dec. 30, at 7 p.m. The Minutewomen (6-6) will be looking to snap the Blue Hens' (7-3) five-game winning streak.
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 Delaware Blue Hens
The Blue Hens are coming off a 15-15 season, finishing ninth in the Colonial Athletic Association. They were projected to finish fourth in the CAA in the preseason poll. They have nine letterwinners returning from last year.
Delaware enters the contest against UMass carrying a five-game winning streak.
Two players, junior Tesia Harris, whose cousin is Channing Frye of the NBA's Phoenix Suns, and redshirt freshman Elena Delle Donne, were picked for the CAA Preseason All-Conference Second Team.
Delle Donne is in the top ten of nearly every statistical category in the CAA, including scoring, rebounds, assists, blocks, free throw percentage, three point field goal percentage, free throw percentage and minutes played. She is the team's top scorer with 25.4 points per-game and top rebounder with 8.8 per-game. She ranks seventh in the nation in the NCAA.
Delle Donne scored a Delaware record 39 points in the squad's last game against Buffalo (12/22), leading the Blue Hens to a 85-72 victory. She has led the squad in scoring eight times in 10 games and has been the Blue Hens' top rebounder seven times.
Series History
Delaware holds a 4-0 advantage in the all-time series against the Minutewomen, which began in 1990. UMass played the Blue Hens in Newark, Del., twice, in 1990 and 2005.
Last Time Against Delaware
Teya Wright had a career-high 16 rebounds on the way to her third double-double of the season, but her efforts were not enough to help the UMass women's basketball team to victory as the squad suffered a 56-42 setback to Delaware at the Mullins Center on Dec. 10, 2008.
Wright led all scorers with 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting and added three steals, while sophomore Cerie Mosgrove followed with 11 points. In her second start of the season, senior Sakera Young collected seven boards, six points, three assists and four steals.
UMass opened the contest with a 5-0 lead on a layup by Wright and a three-pointer by senior Stefanie Gerardot, but jumpers Vanessa Kabongo and Jocelyn Bailey promptly cut the advantage to one.
At the 13:20 mark, Delaware took its first lead of the game, 7-8, on a basket by Tesia Harris. An answering layup by Young and a free throw by Wright put the Minutewomen back on top briefly before Harris drained the tying shot at 10:38, evening the score at 10. The Blue Hens went on to outscore the Minutewomen, 17-10 in the remainder of the period to take a 27-20 lead into the locker room at half time.
A bucket by Wright brought the Minutewomen within five at the start of the second period, however, that is as close as UMass would come to overtaking Delaware. The Blue Hens pushed their lead to double figures with a three by Corinthia Benison at 16:08 and held their largest advantage of the night, 16, with 3:42 to play.
Delaware was aided by 44% shooting in the second half (11-for-25) and finished the game at 37% (22-for-58) from the field. UMass shot a season-low 27.1% (16-for-59) overall, went just 5-for-23 (21.7%) from beyond the arc and 5-for-10 (50%) at the charity stripe.
Harris was the top scorer for the Blue Hens with 13, while Arlene Jenkins chipped in with 12 points and nine rebounds, Kabongo totaled eight points and Benison registered eight points, four assists and four steals.
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 with 101.
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 12 games thus far, including nine of the past 11 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 averages of 5+ rebounds per-game, Kristina Danella (6.5), Diatiema Hill (6.2) and Nicole Jones (5.3), while Jasmine Watson is just shy of that mark with 4.9.
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 21.3 points per-game, led by Megan Zullo (8.4 ppg) and Jasmine Watson (7.8 ppg). Zullo has scored in double figures four times in 10 games off the bench and Watson three times. Zullo has started the past two contests and poured in a team-high 17 points against NJIT.
Watson has collected 5+ rebounds on seven occasions in 12 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 12 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.
With 448 career points, Danella is the leading scorer among active Minutewomen players and is 48th all-time. She is the only player in that top-50 with less than 50 games played. The next closest, Jean Michaelson, scored 519 points in 55 games from 1986-88.
In career rebounds, Danella is second among active players behind Diatiema Hill with 215. 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 seventh in the Atlantic 10 with an average of 14.1 points per-game. She is fourth in free throw percentage (.870), fifth in three-point field goals made (23, 1.9 per-game), 10th in three-point percentage (.411, 23-for-56) and eighth in average minutes played (32.2).
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 34-of-37 free throw attempts on the year for a 91.9 free throw percentage, which ranks second in the Atlantic 10 and ninth in the nation.
Another Minutewoman, Kim Benton is perfect at the charity stripe this season, going 16-for-16.
UMass is currently second in the Atlantic 10 with a 77.5% team free throw percentage (214-276), good for 11th in all of Division I.
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. She also had a double-double on Dec. 20 with 13 points and 10 rebounds at NJIT.
Hill passed out six assists in both of those contests as well and is currently fourth in the Atlantic 10 in assists per-game with an average of 3.5. She ranks second in the conference in assist to turnover ratio at 1.6 and is seventh in average minutes played (32.3)
She has been a big factor in the Minutewomen's success as she has averaged 10.8 points and 8.2 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 eight games and had her best performance yet against Vermont, leading the squad in scoring with 14 and rebounding with nine.
She is averaging 7.8 points per-game and 4.9 rebounds per-game on the year. She is currently tied for sixth 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, 110), Kristina Danella (9th, 81) 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 6.5 and has sunk 78 in total.
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.
Zullo also shot 5-for-8 from beyond the arc at NJIT and finished with a team-high 17 points. She ranks fourth in the Atlantic 10 in threes per-game with 2.1 and has 25 in total on the year.
The Minutewomen set the program record for three-pointers in a game last season with 14 against Northeastern on Dec. 20, 2008.
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.
A different starting lineup (Danella, Jones, Benton and Megan Zullo) also came up big against NJIT with Zullo, Danella, Hill and Jones all reaching the 10-point plateau. The starting five accounted for 58 of 70 points and 28 of 37 rebounds against the Highlanders.
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. The Minutewomen are 6-0 over the past two seasons when four players score 10 or more.
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 .543 (44-81) field goal percentage and is sixth 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.
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 Montgomer 
