University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
Maine
Minutewomen Come Up Short Vs. Maine, 65-49
January 03, 2010 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 3, 2010
AMHERST, Mass. - Despite three players scoring in double figures, the UMass women's basketball team was unable to stop Maine's offensive efforts as the squad fell 65-49 on Sunday afternoon at the Mullins Center, the first of three straight at home to begin the New Year. With the loss, the Minutewomen fall to 6-8 on the season, while the Black Bears improve to 4-8.
Sophomore Kristina Danella was the top point-getter for UMass, totaling 12 along with four rebounds and one block. Classmate Nicole Jones followed with 11 points, aided by 3-for-6 shooting and a 5-for-6 performance at the free throw line, and also brought down a squad-best seven rebounds. The final Minutewomen in double figures, freshman Jasmine Watson, tallied 10 points, five boards, two steals and one block.
Redshirt junior Megan Zullo contributed nine points and three assists, senior Diatiema Hill handed out four assists and senior Kim Benton passed out three helpers and notched two steals.
Maine led 5-0 from the start of the contest and went up by as many as eight in the first half, on a basket by Amanda Tewksbury with 6:21 remaining in the period. Before the Black Bears could pull away any further, five straight points by Danella kick-started a 10-1 UMass run over a span of 2:32. Zullo then capped off the stretch with a three from the top of the arc, giving the Minutewomen their first and only lead of the afternoon, 23-22 with 3:36 left in the opening half. Maine then responded by closing out the fame with eight unanswered points to take a 30-23 lead into the intermission.
The Black Bears expanded its margin to 16 over UMass in the first six minutes of the second period. Then with 13:55 on the clock, the Minutewomen caught fire as a layup by Danella began a stretch of 7:51 that saw the squad outscore Maine, 17-2. Hill drove to the basket for a layup with 5:36 remaining to pull the Minutewomen to within one of the Black Bears at 48-44. Howerver, that was as close as UMass could get to overtaking Maine, who responded by scoring the next 13 straight to put the game away.
The Black Bears shot 46.9% (23-49) on the afternoon, including 6-for-13 (46.2%) from three point range, compared to 31.4% (16-51) from the field for the Minutewomen and 25.0% (5-for-20) from three-point range. Uncharacteristically, UMass shot 66.7% (12-for-18) at the free throw line, while Maine sunk 13-for-16 (81.3%) from the charity stripe. The Black Bears finished with a 37-31 edge in rebounds, 12-7 in second chance points, 19-14 in points off turnovers and 26-20 in points in the paint.
Tewksbury shot 7-for-13 and was 6-for-6 at the line to lead Maine with a game-high 24 points and also chipped in nine rebounds. Kristin Baker tallied 15 points, six assists and four steals. Samantha Wheeler and Katia Bratishko added eight points apiece, along with totals of 10 and nine rebounds, respectively.
The Minutewomen will be back in action on Wednesday, Jan. 6, at 5:30 p.m. when the squad will play host to Harvard in the first game of a UMass basketball doubleheader, its final game before beginning conference play next weekend.
