Nov. 18, 2010
FRI. VS. LSU: Listen | Watch | Live Stats
SUN. VS SETON HALL: Listen | Watch | Live Stats
Game Notes 
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AMHERST, Mass. -
The UMass women's basketball team continues its stretch of five straight road games this weekend as the squad will travel to South Orange, N.J., for the Anaconda Sports "The Rock" SHU Classic. On Friday afternoon, Nov. 19, at 4 p.m., the Minutewomen (0-2) will take on LSU (0-2) at 4 p.m., before facing host Seton Hall (1-1) on Sunday, Nov. 21, at 4 p.m.
Scouting LSU
After a heartbreaking loss to Duke in the NCAA tournament that ended the 2009-2010 season, the Tigers return to the court with most of their team in tact. Though the team graduated All-American Allison Hightower, the other four starters from a year ago remain on the squad. Junior forward LaSondra Barrett is the team's top returning scorer after putting up 12.8 points per-game last season. Barrett was also named to the Second Team in the All-SEC and led the SEC in free throw percentage. Senior guard Katherine Graham finished her 2009-2010 campaign averaging 8.4 points per-game. At the culmination of last season, Graham had 56 career starts and a triple-double.
Other notable players that return for LSU include senior forward Jasmine Nelson who led the team in blocks last year and was 11th in the SEC. Sophomore guard Adrienne Webb returns as the teams top 3-point shooter after going 26-for-86 last season.
Thus far in 2010-11, the Tigers are 0-2 following losses at Northwestern (71-62) and a four-point setback at home against No. 7 Ohio State (59-55). Webb and Latear Eason are averaging double figures through the team's first two games, Webb with 16.5 and Eason with 12.0. Taylor Turnbow is LSU's top rebounder, heading into Friday's contest against the Minutewomen with an average of 7.0 boards per-game.
Scouting Seton Hall
Seton Hall will face LSU on Saturday before playing the Minutewomen on Sunday and enters the weekend with a record of 1-1, a 64-57 loss at Florida Gulf Coast and a 72-59 win over another A-10 squad, Temple.
Three Pirates are averaging double figures in scoring to begin the young 2010-11 season, led by Jasmine Crew (16.5 ppg). Ka-Deidre Simmons and Kandice Green follow with 14.5 and 11.5, respectively. Green is the squad's top rebounder with an average of 9.5 per-contest.
Seton Hall's roster includes five freshmen and features first year head coach Anne Donovan.
Junior forward Kandice Geen and sophomore forward Terry Green are the lone returning starters from the Pirates' 2009-10 squad. Kandice Green was second on the team last year in scoring, averaging 12.8 points per-game and posting a team-high of 8.7 rebounds per-game. She also registerd 11 double-doubles last season to rank fifth in the BIG EAST.
Series History
UMass and Seton Hall have met on three occasions beginning with a 66-60 win for the Pirates on Dec. 5, 1992. Since then, the teams have each won road games in the series, with the Minutewomen picking up a 70-61 victory the last time the squad made a trip to South Orange, N.J. All three meetings have been decided by less than 10-point margins.
Last Time Against Seton Hall
Despite shooting 51.8% for the game and 58.6% in the second half, the UMass women's basketball team was unable to hold off Seton Hall as the Pirates edged the Minutewomen, 79-74, on Dec. 29,, 2008, in the Mullins Center.
Three players scored in double figures for the Minutewomen led by senior Stefanie Gerardot's 16. Her classmate Sakera Young put up a career-high 15 points on 5-for-6 shooting and was 5-for-5 at the free throw line to go along with five assists. Junior Kim Benton matched her best offensive performance of the season with 12 points as she was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field on the day.
Just shy of reaching double figures were freshman Kristina Danella and sophomore Teya Wright. Danella had nine points and seven rebounds in her first collegiate start, while Wright totaled eight points, nine rebounds and a career-best six steals. Freshman Alesia Howard posted a new career best for a second consecutive game, scoring six points in nine minutes on the floor.
After a tightly-played opening five minutes, the Pirates managed eight straight points to build an 11-point advantage at 22-11 with 12:31 remaining in the first. UMass closed the gap to two with a three by Benton at the 8:25 mark, but Seton Hall responded with an 11-0 run and led by as many as 14 before going to the locker room ahead 42-29.
In the blink of an eye, the Pirates saw their lead evaporate in the first 4:05 of the second half as the Minutewomen began the period by outscoring Seton Hall, 17-2. A three by Danella from the top of the key tied the score at 44 with 15:55 to play and prompted a timeout by the Pirates. Gerardot followed with a basket at the 15:16 mark to give UMass its first lead since the opening minute of the contest.
A layup by Noteisha Womack put Seton Hall back in front for good at 52-50 with 12:11 on the clock, although the Minutewomen battled to the end. The game went down to the wire as a three-point play by Young making it a one possession game with 10 seconds remaining in regulation. UMass outscored the Pirates 45-37 in the second period.
Ebonie Williams and Nicole Emery both logged 20-point games for Seton Hall with 23 and 22, respectively, while Womack also reached double figures with 13. Womack, the nation's leading rebounder as of the last NCAA statistics report, was limited to just three boards by the Minutewomen after entering the day with an average of 15.1 rebounds per-game. Emery had a team-best eight rebounds and Williams dished a game-high six assists.
Reaching New Heights
Returning players Shakia Robinson and Emilie Teuscher both made their first career starts in the season opener against George Mason. Robinson set new career highs in points (12), rebounds (8), steals (5) and minutes played, scoring in double figures for the first time. Teuscher matched a career high with nine points and grabbed a career-best four rebounds. It also was a first for Robinson leading the team in scoring and rebounding.
Robinson and Teuscher combined for 21 points against George Mason. In total in 2009-10, the pair contributed 52 points (Robinson 18, Teuscher 21) on the year.
Sophomore Dee Montgomery registered career highs in rebounds (6) and steals (3) vs. the Patriots, coming in 16 minutes, which matched a career high playing time.
True Minute Women
Through the first weekend of play, seniors Cerie Mosgrove and Megan Zullo have been fixtures on the floor for UMass. Mosgrove has played 78 of 80 possible minutes, while Zullo has been on the court for 77 minutes.
Mosgove, who currently leads the Minutewomen with a 13.5 points per-game average, totaled a team-high 17 points against George Mason, two shy of her career high and was one short of matching her career best in rebounds (6). It marked the senior's 10th career game in double figures, the first since Nov. 20, 2009 when she logged 12 points at New Hampshire, her only double-digit scoring performance of the season in 2009-10. Mosgrove followed up with her 11th career game with 10+ points, netting 11 at Providence last Sunday.
Rookies Doing Their Part
Freshmen Talen Watson has started the first two games of the season as began her career by scoring six points against George Mason, while freshman Sara English came off the bench in that contest to make her first appearance in a UMass uniform.
In game two at Providence, Watson and English, joined by classmates Kelly Robinson and Abbey Lalime, combined for half of the team's point total. Led by Watson's team-best 11 points, the group registered 24 points against the Friars.
Lalime had six points in her collegiate debut, while Robinson saw her first action as a Minutewoman at Providence as as well.
Zullo Sets Mullins Assist Record
Senior Megan Zullo recorded a remarkable 13 assists on 21 UMass baskets (19 possible assist opportunities since two field goals in the contest were her own), setting a new women's Mullins Center record for a single game on Nov. 12 vs. George Mason. Her previous career high was seven against Fordham on Feb. 6, 2010.
The total is second all-time in program history for a single game, trailing only her aunt, the late Christel Zullo, who dished 15 assists against Temple on Feb. 14, 1986.
The previous Mullins Center record was last set by Diatiema Hill during the 2009-10 season with 11 assists on Senior Day vs. Saint Joseph's.
UMass Women's Basketball Radio Show On WMUA
Throughout the 2010-11 season, catch up on what's going on with the Minutewomen as WMUA broadcasters John Windheim and Matt Lopes talk with head coach Sharon Dawley and other special guests from the UMass women's basketball team on the UMass Women's Basketball Coach's Show, Mondays from 5 to 5:30 p.m. on WMUA 91.1 FM and www.wmua.org.
Dates for November and December include: 11/22, 11/29, 12/6, 12/13 and 12/20.
A New Era
Sharon Dawley, the former women's basketball coach at the University of Vermont, was named as the 10th head coach in progam history on April 6, 2010. Dawley joins Minutewomen after a highly successful tenure with the Catamounts that included two consecutive America East titles (2008-09 and 2009-10) and three straight postseason berths.
In seven seasons at Vermont, Dawley posted a mark of 128-86 (.598) and holds a career record of 265-150 (.639) in her 17th season as a head coach. She became the winningest coach in Vermont women's basketball history when the Catamounts upset No. 7-seed Wisconsin in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on March, 21, 2010, the program's first NCAA tournament victory.
A Native of Revere, Mass., Dawley was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame in October of 2009.
The Supporting Cast
Joining head coach Sharon Dawley on the sidelines are Steve Lanpher, Jen MacAulay, Morgan Valley and Alison Brown.
Both Lanpher and MacAulay came to UMass from Vermont along with Dawley, while Brown was one of Dawley's former players at UVM. Lanpher's backgound includes 10 years of head coaching experience and nearly 20 seasons overall.
Valley is a native of Vermont, but joins Dawley's staff from Towson. She was a member of three NCAA national championship teams at the University of Connecticut and won two BIG EAST titles while playing for the Huskies from 2000-04. She helped the squad to a four-year record of 139-8.
From Near And Far
UMass' 13-player roster is comprised of individuals from 11 different states and provinces. Senior Cerie Mosgrove is the lone representative from the state of Massachusetts, hailing from Needham.
Megan Zullo and Millie Niggeling are the first Minutewomen in program history from their respective home states of North Carolina and Iowa.
New Faces
The Minutewomen have welcomed six new players to the fold this fall: freshman guards Abbey Lalime, Kelly Robinson and Talen Watson, freshmen centers Sara English and Millie Niggeling and sophomore guard Carolann Cloutier.
Among the high school accompishments of this group, Talen Watson helped Arundel High School to a state title, Lalime was tabbed the Vermont Basketball Coaches Association Player of the Year and Niggeling won two state championships at Bishop Heelan High School.
Cloutier, a transfer from Old Dominion, played with Team Canada at the World University games before college. Both Cloutier and Niggeling with redshirt the 2010-11, season, Cloutier's is per-NCAA transfer rules.
Three Party
The 2010-11 UMass roster contains three of the best three-point shooters in program history as seniors Stephanie Lawrence, Cerie Mosgrove and Megan Zullo all have etched their names into the UMass record book in various three-point shooting categories.
Lawrence sunk 20 of 52 shots from beyond the arc in 2009-10, for a .385 shooting percentage. Her single season mark from a year ago stands eighth all-time.
Mosgrove has 99 career treys, good for eighth all-time. She also ranks seventh in career three-point attempts (291) and tied for ninth in career three-point percentage (.330). Mosgrove registered 51 threes as a sophmomore in 2008-09, fifth-most all-time for a single season.
Zullo was the UMass leader with 54 three-pointers last season, shooting 54-for-150 (.360) from beyond the arc. Her percentage (.348) ranks fifth all-time for a career, while her single season total for threes made stands third. Against Quinnipiac on Dec. 6, 2009, Zullo made six treys for a career high.
Youth-Full Roster
Nine of the 13 players on the Minutewomen roster are either freshmen or sophomores, accounting for nearly 70% of the team.
Senior Cerie Mosgrove is the squad's most tenured player with 85 career games played and 25 starts. She is the lone member of the team with over 1,000 minutes played. She is the program's active leading scorer with 377 points.
Just four players on the UMass roster have seen time in the starting lineup prior to the 2010-11 season. Megan Zullo and Jasmine Watson, the team's two returning starters, both played their first campaigns with the Minutewomen last season.
Center Of Attention
Sophomore Jasmine Watson, UMass' top returning scorer, was named to the preseason Atlantic 10 third team last month.
The league's reigning Rookie of the Year, Watson played in all 30 games in 2009-10, starting the final 16. She finished second on the squad in scoring last season with 307 points, an average of 10.2 per-game, and brought down a team-best 176 rebounds (5.9 per-game). She also registered 38 blocks for an average of 1.3 per-game.
Watson, who was named A-10 Rookie of the Week a school-record four times, finished her rookie campaign as the leading freshman scorer in the Atlantic 10. In conference play, Watson averaged a team-best 13.0 points per-game to rank 10th in the conference.
The center scored in double figures 16 times in 2009-10 and had two 20-point games and two double-doubles, including a season-high 21 points against Fordham on Feb. 6. She was the team's leading scorer on six occasions and the leading rebounder 11 times.
Watson is just the third player in program history to log 300+ points and 150+ rebounds as a freshman. She joins Melissa Gurile and Octavia Thomas in that elite group. Both Gurile and Thomas finished their UMass careers with 1,500+ points and 800+ rebounds.
Challenging Road Ahead
The Minutewomen's 2010-11 schedule features tough competition from the ACC, America East, BIG EAST, Colonial, Conference USA, Ivy, Mid-American, Northeast, Patriot and SEC before beginning the always-challenging Atlantic 10 schedule.
Out of UMass' 28 opponents, 14 are coming off 2010 postseason appearances in the NCAA and WNIT. According to Realtimerpi.com, the Minutewomen entered the season with the 39th-toughest schedule out of 347 Division I teams.
Emily Mital Signs With UMass
Head coach Sharon Dawley has announced that Emily Mital, a 5-8 point guard/shooting guard out of Frisco Liberty High School in Frisco, Texas, has signed a National Letter of Intent during the November early signing period, and will be a part of UMass' Class of 2015.
A four-year captain and starter under head coach Mari Harrison, Mital has led Frisco Liberty in scoring each season heading into her senior year and helped the squad to the Texas UIL playoffs her during freshman and sophomore seasons.
Entering her final campaign with Frisco Liberty, Mital was named to the 2010-11 Texas Basketball Magazine Pre-Season All-State Team as the best returning three-point shooter in the state after draining 82 treys as a junior.
Mital led her district in scoring in both 2009-10 and 2008-09, with 17.0 points per-game and 17.3 points per-game, respectively. She also chipped in 4.8 rebounds, 2.2 steals and 3.1 assists per-game as a junior on her way to a second straight TABC 4A Region 2 All-Region selection and a third straight first team all-district honor. Mital was recognized with both pre-and post-season all-state accolades from Texas Basketball Magazine in 2009-10, as well.
The three-time academic all-district honoree was tabbed the District 9-3A Newcomer of the Year in 2007-08 and earned a spot on the All-Collin County third team after posting 11.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.3 steals and 2.4 assists per-game as a freshman.
Mital has been named to several all-tournament teams in her high school career and has ranked second in Texas UIL (public school, all classifications) for free throw percentage the past two seasons. She holds Frisco Liberty's records for total points, career and season scoring average, career two-point field goals, career three-point field goals, career free throws, career assists and points in a game.
Grandison Inks NLI To Join UMass
Head coach Sharon Dawley has announced that 5-10 forward Ronni Grandison has inked a National Letter of Intent to join the Minutewomen in 2011-12. Grandison will come to UMass out of Lakota West High School in West Chester, Ohio, and is the second signee for Dawley during the November early signing period.
Grandison, who is coached by Andy Fishman, was named to the Greater Miami Conference second team last season and was selected as a District 15 All-Star after averaging 7.3 points per game as a junior in 2009-10. She shot 23-for-57 (40.4%) from three-point range and 39-for-52 (75%) at the free throw line to lead the Lakota West Firebirds last season, which ranked her second and fourth in Butler County in each respective category.
Grandison plays AAU ball with the highly successful Cincinnati Heat, coached by Krista Doan. She is the daughter of Barb and Ronnie Grandison. Her father, Ronnie, played in the NBA for the Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, New York Knicks, Atlanta Hawks and Charlotte Hornets. ing average, career two-point field goals, career three-point field goals, career free throws, career assists and points in a game. 
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