Dec. 7, 2010
AMHERST, Mass. -
Coming off its best shooting performance of the season, the UMass women's basketball team will head across the state for a game at Boston University on Wednesday, Dec. 8, at 5 p.m. in Case Gym. The Terriers (2-7) are the first of three teams the Minutewomen (1-7) will face from the America East conference this month, taking on Binghamton and Maine in the coming weeks.
Scouting Boston University
The Boston University Terriers (2-7) enter Wednesday's game having earned only one victory in four games at home this season. Although still in their hometown, the Terriers were most recently defeated by cross-town rival, Northeastern, 67-55 on Monday.
Alex Young leads Boston University with 15.1 points per-game, tallying a team best 136 points this season. On the defensive end Kerry Cashman has reeled in a team high 8.7 rebounds per-game, while also blocking a team-best 14 shots.
Since the squads first met in 1977, UMass and BU are even at 11 victories a piece, where the Minutewomen hold a 5-4 edge when playing in Amherst. At neutral sites the edge is in favor of UMass as well, 4-0, but the Terriers are best in Boston holding a 7-2 advantage.
Last Time Against The Terriers
Three clutch free throws by sophomore Kristina Danella helped send the season opener into overtime where the UMass women's basketball team went on to defeat Boston University by the score of 79-73 on Sunday afternoon in the Mullins Center. The Minutewomen, who never led during regulation, outscored the Terriers, 12-6 in the extra period.
Four players scored in double figures for the Minutewomen with Danella leading the balanced attack with 21 points on 5-10 shooting from the field and a 10-14 performance at the free throw line. She posted her fifth 20-point game of her career, while also contributing eight rebounds. Senior Kim Benton followed with 18 points, aided by 4-8 shooting from beyond the arc, tying her career high set during her sophomore campaign.
Sophomore Nicole Jones had a career day, as well, contributing 13 points and a team-best nine rebounds, both career highs for the center who made her first collegiate start. She also added three blocks and four steals.
Senior Diatiema Hill was one off her personal best with 14 points and finished with six boards and four assists. In her UMass debut, freshman Shakia Robinson brought down six rebounds in 16 minutes on the floor.
Boston University opened up with the first points of the day on a three by Chantell Alford. Though Benton would tie things up for the Minutewomen with an answering trey, the Terriers followed up with a 7-0 run to build a 10-3 advantage.
Hill brought UMass back to within a one-possession deficit at 10-8 as she scored five straight points for the Minutewomen, capped off by a jumper at 14:34. However, BU used a trio of three pointers to stretch its lead 11. The 9-0 run gave the Terriers their biggest lead of the opening half and went BU into the intermission with a 38-30 edge.
After beginning the second half with four free throws but no field goals, UMass pulled to within three at 42-39 as Benton hit her fourth three-pointer of the afternoon. She then assisted on a layup by Hill to prompt a timeout by the Terriers.
On BU's next possession, the momentum shifted again as Kat Briggs came up with a four point-play to push the margin back to seven at 46-39.
After coming within three of the Terriers on several occasions, the Minutewomen finally closed the gap to one with under two minutes remaining on a pair of free throws by Benton. Then with 17 seconds remaining in the period and BU holding a 67-64 lead, Danella was fouled on a three-point attempt from the top of the arc.
After Danella drained all three of her shots from the charity stripe, Briggs and Caroline Stewart missed a pair of layups at the opposite end of the floor in the closing seconds to send the game to overtime.
Hill's bucket seven seconds into the extra period gave UMass its first lead of the day at 69-67. After the Terriers managed to tie the score at 70, Jones answered with a basket to put the Minutewomen back on top by two, an advantage the squad would not relinquish in the remainder of the contest. Danella put the game out of reach for BU, making 5-of-6 free throw attempts in the closing 53 seconds.
The team stat lines for the day were nearly identical as UMass shot 38.3% (23-60) from the field and BU 38.2% (26-68), while each squad totaled 44 rebounds. The biggest difference came at the free throw line where the Minutewomen finished 28-37 (75.7%) and the Terriers were just 11-for-19 (57.9%).
Offense Turning It On
The Minutewomen are coming off their their three best offensive performances of the year as the squad put up 83 points against East Carolina and shot a season-best 54.7% (29-for-53) against Boston College this past Sunday.
UMass saw four players score in double figures against ECU and Brown, while Sophomore Shakia Robinson and Megan Zullo both scored 20+ against Boston College. Robinson has paced the Minutewomen over this three game stretch, averaging 24.3 points and shooting 70.5% (31-for-44) over the past three games. Overall, Robinson ranks fifth in the Atlantic 10 in field goal percentage at 58.2% (46-for-79) and entered the week 21st in the nation.
A Little Help From My Friends
Against Boston College on Dec. 5, the Minutewomen handed out 26 assists on 29 baskets, the most since the program record of 28 in a game was set on Dec. 6, 2004, against Toledo.
Individually, Megan Zullo is third in the Atlantic 10 in assists per-game with a 5.3 average and is ranked 38th nationally. She currently has 42 in eight games.
Three Minutewomen (Zullo, Kelly Robinson and Abbey Lalime) have posted 5+ assist games this season, the most recent being Zullo and Lalime with seven and five, respectively against Boston College.
Robinson Earns Pair Of Honors
Sophomore forward Shakia Robinson was named both co-Atlantic 10 Player of the Week and co-UMass Athlete of the Week on Dec. 6.
Robinson shared her Atlantic 10 honor with Xavier's Amber Harris after averaging 21.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and shooting 18-for-35 (72%) in a 1-1 week for the Minutewomen. It marks the first conference Player of the Week honor for UMass since Kate Mills was recognized by the league on Feb. 11, 2008.
In the Minutewomen's first victory of the season, a 78-55 win over Brown last Wednesday, Robinson contributed 18 points and seven rebounds in 26 minutes on the floor to go along with two steals.
She followed up with her first career double-double on Sunday against Boston College, logging a team-leading 25 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 78.6% from the floor (11-for-14) and playing a career-high 39 minutes.
Home Sweet Home
UMass' three seniors, Stephanie Lawrence, Cerie Mosgrove and Megan Zullo have all been quite comfortable playing on their home court this season all shooting above 42 percent at home in the Mullins Center.
Mosgrove is averaging 14.7 points per-game at home, while Zullo is averaging an eye-popping 9.6 assists per-game in Amherst and has scored 13.0 points per-game.
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 high in steals (5) and scored in double figures for the first time. It also was a first for Robinson leading the team in scoring and rebounding. She improved upon her career high in rebounds just three games later, hauling in 11 boards at Seton Hall, and posted her first career double-double with 25 points and10 rebounds.
Teuscher eclipsed her career highs in points and rebounds against Boston College with 13 and seven, respectively.
Sophomore Dee Montgomery registered career highs in rebounds (6) and steals (3) against George Mason, while earning her first career start vs. Maryland and playing a personal best 27 minutes against the Terps.
Three players set career highs in minutes played at Seton Hall, Robinson and Teuscher with 36 and senior Stephanie Lawrence with 28. Robinson then bested that outing with 39 minutes played against Boston College.
Senior Cerie Mosgrove corralled a career high eight rebounds at East Carolina and matched her career high in points (19), she surpassed her personal best a game later vs. Brown, totalling 20 points in that contest.
True Minute Women
Seniors Cerie Mosgrove and Megan Zullo and sophomore Shakia Robinson have been fixtures on the floor for UMass this season, all averaging 32+ minutes per-game. Zullo is the team leader in minutes played (38.6 average) and also ranks first in the Atlantic 10 in minutes per-game. She has been on the floor for 309 of 320 possible minutes this season.
Robinson leads the Minutewomen in scoring with 13.8 points per-game, while Zullo follows with 12.6 points per-game and Mosgrove is contributing 11.9 points per-game.
Each of the three has led the team in scoring in seven out of eight games with Zullo finishing as the leading scorer three times, Mosgrove and Robinson twice. The trio has combined for 13 double-digit scoring performances this season, with Zullo scoring in double figures five consecutive games and Robinson posting double figures in three straight games.
Rookies Doing Their Part
Freshmen Talen Watson and Kelly Robinson have each seen time in the starting lineup this season. Watson began her career by scoring six points against George Mason. Another 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, English and Robinson, joined by classmate 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.
English managed seven points in six minutes against LSU. Lalime posted her first double-figure scoring performance with 11 at East Carolina while also grabbing five rebounds and dishing three assists. Against Boston College, Lalime posted her first five-assist game with five against the Eagles.
What A Difference A Year Makes
Sophomore Shakia Robinson passed her freshman year playing total of 139 minutes just five games into the 2010-11 season. She passed her 2009-10 rebound total (27) five games in, as well, and has well surpassed her point total, improving from 18 last year to 110 through eight games this season.
Junior Emilie Teuscher has posted new career highs for a season in virtually every statistical category, while 209 of her 339 career minutes have been played this season. Teuscher has 54 points in seven games, not only surpassing her 2009-10 total of 21, but nearly doubling her career total of 34 entering this season. She currently has 34 rebounds after grabbing a total of 11 through her first two campaigns with the Minutewomen.
15 For 30
Sophomore Shakia Robinson poured in 30 points on Nov. 28 at East Carolina, shooting 13-for-19 and 4-6 at the free throw line. It not only marked a career high for Robinson, but was the first 30-point game for a UMass player since Jen Butler had 31 against Temple on Jan 6, 2003, and is tied for ninth-most all-time in a single game by a member of the Minutewomen.
Robinson was 8-for-10 and had 18 points in the second half alone, which equaled her point total from her entire freshman season.
Robinson is just the sixth player in program history to log a 30-point game, joining Butler, Melissa Gurile, Barbara Hebel, Julie Ready and Octavia Thomas. All five of those players finished their UMass careers with 1,400+ points and rank in the top-10 in career scoring.
The UMass single game record for points is 38, set by Gurile on Dec. 11, 1993 against Providence.
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.
Upcoming show dates include: 12/13, 12/20, 1/10, and 1/17.
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 266-155 (.632) 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.
Dawley earned her first victory as UMass head coach on Dec. 1, 2010, a 78-55 win over Brown at home in the Mullins Center.
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 background 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 106 career treys, good for sixth all-time. She also ranks seventh in career three-point attempts (310) and eighth in career three-point percentage (.339). 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 career percentage (.387) ranks third 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. She leads the team this season with 21 threes and is shooting 47.7% from beyond the arc.
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 91 career games played and 31 starts. She entered the 2009-10 season as the lone member of the team with over 1,000 minutes played and is the program's active leading scorer with 445 points.
Just four players on the UMass roster had 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 this fall.
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.
Dawley Adds Timbilla To List Of Signees
Rashida Timbilla, a 6-1 forward from Nepan, Ontario, has signed a National Letter of Intent to play for the Minutewomen during the November early signing period, UMass women's basketball head coach Sharon Dawley announced on Nov. 18. Timbilla joins Emily Mital and Ronni Grandison as the third member of UMass' Class of 2015.
Timbilla played with the Canadian Junior National Team this past summer that captured bronze at the 18U Tournament of the Americas.
As member of the Kanata Cavs, coached by Dean Tanasijevic, Timbilla helped her squad to a record of 22-5 and a No. 5 ranking in the province. In 2009-10, Timbilla averaged 20.4 points, 14.4 rebounds (6.1 offensive), 7.8 assists, 3.1 blocks and 2.8 steals per-game. She played an average of 27 minutes per-contest and posted a 74% free throw percentage, as well.
Timbilla was also a four-year varsity field hockey player for John McCrae Secondary School, helping the team to a National Capital Secondary School Athletic Association title in 2010 and an undefeated record in the regular season. She is the daughter of Bawah and Adiza Timbilla.
Rodney Signs NLI To Play Basketball At UMass
Aisha Rodney of Grosse Pointe South High School in Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich., has signed a National Letter of Intent to play basketball at UMass, head coach Sharon Dawley announced on Nov. 22. The 6-0 power forward inked her NLI during the November early signing period and joins Emily Mital, Ronni Grandison and Rashida Timbilla as the fourth member of UMass' Class of 2015.
Rodney enters her senior season as a three-time all-state and all-conference player under head coach Kevin Richards at Grosse Pointe South. She averaged 16.4 points per-game and was the team's top rebounder with 12 boards per-game last season, leading her squad to a third-straight conference championship, while earning her second team MVP honor. Rodney holds the school's scoring record and was tabbed Grosse Pointe South's rookie of the year as a freshman. The McDonald's All-American Nominee is ranked 52nd at her position by Hoopgurlz.
Rodney plays club basketball with the Michigan Crossovers, coached by Emez Oliver and Dena Head. She helped the Crossovers to the semifinals at Nike Nationals, the furthest any team from Michigan has ever advanced in the tournament.
Rodney is the daughter of Antje and Lorenzo Rodney. 
