Feb. 12, 2010
AMHERST, Mass. -
With the regular season winding down, the UMass women's basketball team play Dayton in a nationally-televised contest on CBS College Sports on Saturday, Feb. 13, in the penultimate home game of the year. Saturday's game, which will tip off at 2 p.m., is Pink Zone Day, with various activities to promote breast cancer awareness, including Pink Zone t-shirt and pink ribbon giveaways. At halftime on the court in Mullins, "Stand Up and Be Counted" - a White Ribbon Campaign event will take place, led by Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray as more than 100 men and boys will take a public pledge to never commit, condone or remain silent about men's violence against women.
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 Dayton Flyers
Dayton is currently fourth in the Atlantic 10 with a record of 19-5 on the season and 7-2 record in conference play. The Flyers are coming off a 72-42 win against Fordham on Thursday. There were two players in double figures; Freshman Kari Daugherty (16 points) and Junior Kristen Daugherty (11 points).
Sophomore Justine Raterman leads the Flyers with 11.8 points per game, which is good for 15th in the conference. Sophomore Patrice Lalor leads the team with 4.1 assists per game which is good for second in the conference. Casey Nance averages a team-best 6.4 rebounds per-game. The Flyers are second in the Atlantic 10 in scoring margin with 13.1 points per-game.
Junior Kristen Daugherty was named Second Team University Division ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District IV. She has earned A-10 weekly honors five times in her career at UD and earlier this season she was named MVP of the Purdue BTI Classic, which the Flyers won in November. She was also named to the Dartmouth Blue Sky Classic All-Tournament team in December.
Dayton finished the 2008-09 season with a 21-14 overall record and made its third-ever and second-straight appearance in the postseason WNIT.
Series History
UMass holds a 10-6 advantage in the all-time series against Dayton, which began on Feb. 21, 1996. The Minutewomen are 5-3 at home against the Flyers and are looking to snap a two game losing streak in the series.
Sophomore Standout
Sophomore Kristina Danella has led the Minutewomen in scoring in 11 of the 23 games she has played in 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 11 rebounds against Rhode Island on Jan. 9, the ninth time in her career she has been the leading rebounder for the Minutewomen and fourth this season.
In career rebounds, Danella is second among active players behind Diatiema Hill with 269. She scored her 500th career point on Jan. 9 vs. Rhode Island and grabbed her 200th career board vs. Vermont on Dec. 9.
Danella scored in double figures in eight consecutive games this season, the longest streak of her career. She has tallied at least 10 points in 15 of the past 19 games and all but five overall this season (23 games).
As the team's leading scorer, Danella is ninth in the Atlantic 10 with an average of 13.1 points per-game.
Getting To 600 Before Junior Year
With 580 career points, Kristina Danella is the leading scorer among active Minutewomen players and is 37th all-time. She is the only player in that top-40 with less than 55 games played as she is currently at 53 for her career. The next closest, Juanita Matthews scored 519 points in 56 games from 1984-86.
Currently at 301 points for the season, Danella has already passed her freshman year total of 279. Danella is 20 points shy of her 600th of her career. She is on the verge of becoming the eighth Minutewoman in program history to reach 600 points in their first two seasons. The previous seven UMass players to reach that mark have all gone on to score 1,400+ points in their careers.
33 From 3
At the 16:28 mark in the second half of UMass' win over Fordham on Feb. 6, sophomore Kristina Danella drained her 100th career three-pointer. She is the sixth player in program history to reach the milestone.
Danella already holds the single game record for three pointers made (seven) and the record for threes in a season (58).She ranks second in career three-point percentage (.400) and her name appears on the single season list twice.
In the Atlantic 10, Danella ranks sixth in three-point field goal percentage (.393, 42-107) and sixth in three-point field goals made (42, 1.8 per-game).
Danella is shooting a blistering 51.6% from beyond the arc in conference play (16-for-31).
One To Watch
Freshman Jasmine Watson has been named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week twice this season and was also tabbed UMass Athlete of the Week on Feb. 8.
After posting three blocks in her collegiate debut, 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.
Watson has scored seven or more in 16 of the past 20 games and has grabbed five-plus rebounds in 16 of the last 20, as well.
She ranks 13th in the conference in field goal percentage at 44.8% (86-for-192).
More On Watson
In her first collegiate start on Jan. 6 against Harvard, Jasmine Watson posted a double-double with 10 points and a career-high 13 rebounds.
Nine of her team-leading 13 rebounds came on the offensive end of the floor, the most offensive rebounds in a game by a Minutewoman this season. She had six offensive boards vs. Fordham and currently ranks seventh in the Atlantic 10 with an average of 2.7 offensive rebounds per-game (65 in total).
Watson is averaging 12.9 points per-game and 6.9 rebounds per-game as a starter, including a team-leading 13.2 points per-game in Atlantic 10 play. She has scored in double figures in nine of the past 11 games.
In Atlantic 10 games, Watson is the top scoring freshman. She ranks 12th in rebounds (6.2), sixth in field goal percentage (51.1%) and fifth in blocks (14, 1.6 per-game).
Block Party
With eight blocks at Duquesne on Jan. 20, sophomore Nicole Jones tied a UMass single game record with eight against the Dukes to set a new career high.
The mark had been reached twice previously, by Kate Mills vs. George Washington (2/13/08) and by Helen Freeman vs. Rhode Island (3/3/88).
That performance helped vault Jones into fourth in the Atlantic 10 in blocks with an average of 1.4 per-game (34 in total), while freshman Jasmine Watson follows close behind in sixth with 31, an average of 1.3 per-game
Jones is five blocks shy of cracking the top-10 for a single season in the program's record book. She currently ranks 12th all-time in career blocks with 49,
Jones is tied for the most blocks in a single game by any A-10 player this season as Sara Mostafa of George Washington had eight earlier this season at North Texas (11/17/09).
On Best Behavior
UMass is called for an average of 15.0 fouls per-game and began the week ranked 32nd nationally in fouls per-game.
Foul trouble has been rare for the Minutewomen this season, having multiple players with four fouls just three times in 24 games (two vs. Boston University, three vs. Vermont, three at Rhode Island) and just one foul out.
Extra Minutes
The Minutewomen have played extra basketball three times this season and are 2-1 when going to overtime. Three overtime games is the most for the program since the 2002-03 season when the squad played extra basketball on three occasions. The most overtime games in a season for a UMass team came the year before, seven in 2001-02.
When the squad picked up an OT win over Saint Louis, 62-59, on Jan. 13, it marked the team's first overtime win on the road since claiming a 71-66 victory at St. Bonaventure on Feb. 21, 2002.
UMass' 79-73 overtime win 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.
The longest game in UMass history (three overtimes) was a 65-60 loss to Rice at home on Nov. 23, 2001
Doubling Up
Four UMass players have recorded a combined seven double-doubles this season, the most recent being Jasmine Watson's 16 points and 10 rebounds vs. George Washington on Jan. 27.
Three other Minutewomen, Diatiema Hill, Kristina Danella, and Nicole Jones have posted double-doubles this season.
Danella's 16 points and 11 rebounds against Rhode Island on Jan. 9 marked her third career double-double, all which have come in Atlantic 10 play, and second against URI.
Hill now has three on the year (21 pts., 14 reb. vs. Quinnipiac, 13 pts., 10 reb. vs. NJIT, 26 pts. and 10 reb. at Saint Louis).
Jones' came against Villanova (22 pts., 12 reb.) and Watson had 10 points and 13 rebounds vs. Harvard.
Solid At The Stripe
Sophomore Kristina Danella and senior Diatiema Hill both rank in the top-four in the conference in free throw percentage at 87.4% (97-for-111) and 85.5% (53-for-62), respectively.
Danella is currently ranked first all-time in program history with an 81.79% (154-188) career free throw percentage (min. 150 made), while her percentage this season stands second. Hill's mark from this season is currently fourth on the program's single season list for free throw percentage.
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 nine games this season, most recently going 2-for-2 at Temple.
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.
Another Minutewoman, Kim Benton, began the season a perfect 22-for-22.
UMass is currently second in the Atlantic 10 with a 75% team free throw percentage (357-476) and began the week 26th in the nation.
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.
Five different Minutewomen have logged at least one 20-point game this year, Nicole Jones, Hill, Zullo, Kristina Danella and Jasmine Watson. Danella, Hill and Jones have reached the 20-point mark twice on the year.
Hill Reaching New Heights
Senior Diatiema Hill had a career game against Quinnipiac in the Brown Classic championship on Dec. 6 as she posted 21 points and a career-high 14 rebounds 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.
Most recently with her third double-double of the season, Hill surpassed her career high in points at Saint Louis, pouring in 26 (the highest total by a Minutewoman this season), on 10-for-20 shooting and a 5-for-6 clip at the free throw line to go along with 10 rebounds.
Hill played a career-high 43 minutes at Saint Louis, stayed on the floor for all 40 minutes against Richmond and played 40 in the squad's overtime game at Duquesne. She is currently third in the Atlantic 10 in average minutes played (34.0), first in conference games with an average of 37.2 minutes per-game.
Hill has been a big factor in the Minutewomen's success as she has averaged 11.7 points and 8.2 rebounds per-game in UMass victories and just 5.8 points and 4.5 rebounds in the squad's losses.
Set Up Stars
On Jan. 16, the Minutewomen had a season-high 20 assists on 24 baskets against Richmond and had 19 assists on 20 baskets vs. Fordham on Feb. 6. The squad ranks fifth in the Atlantic 10 with 13.1 assists per-game.
Four different Minutewomen (Diatiema Hill, Kim Benton, Megan Zullo and Stephanie Lawrence) have posted five-assist games this season. Hill has done it 10 times, Benton and Zullo three times and Lawrence once each. Benton and Zullo both recently set career highs with seven-assist games, while Hill has logged five-plus assists six times in the past eight games. Hill ranks second in conference play with an average of 4.8 assists per-game.
With 88 on the year, Hill ranks third in the Atlantic 10 with a 4.8 assists per-game average. She has already passed her previous career high for assists in a season, 87 set in 2008-09 (30 games).
Hill also ranks first in the conference with a 1.9 assist-to-turnover ratio. The UMass record for assist to turnover ratio, 1.9, (149 assists to 78 turnovers) was set by Mary Hallaren during the 1978-79 season.
Meg Z. For Three
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 at Delaware, finishing as the squad's leading scorer on both occasions with 17 and 15 points respectively.
She is sixth in the Atlantic 10 in threes per-game with 1.9 and has 46 in total over 24 games. The single season record of 58 was set by Kristina Danella in 2008-09 (30 games) and Katie Nelson in 2004-05 (29 games).
Zullo has drained five or more threes in a game three times this season. Twenty-one of her threes on the year came in the month of December as she averaged 12.0 points per-game over seven games in the final month of 2009.
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 113.
Benton needs to play in two more games to crack the top-10 all time.
Sabriya Mitchell holds the program record for games played at 118 in a career that spanned 1994 to 1998.
Twice As Nice
For the second straight year, UMass captured 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.
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, 117), Kristina Danella (sixth, 100) and Cerie Mosgrove (ninth, 85) are among the all-time leaders for career three-point field goals.
The Minutewomen set the program record for three-pointers in a game last season with 14 against Northeastern on Dec. 20, 2008.
UMass ranks first in the Atlantic 10 in three-pointers per-game with an average of 6.3 (151 total).
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. In UMass' wins this season (eight games), three players are averaging double figures (Danella 15.9, Hill 12.5, Jones 10.0), while two more (Zullo and Jasmine Watson) are just shy at 9.6 and 7.8, respectively.
In the win over Saint Louis on Jan. 13, UMass starters accounted for 54 of the 62 points and 33 of 45 rebounds.
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.
On Jan. 6 against Harvard, Jones posted her second 20-point game of the season, tying her career high with 22 to lead the squad. She has been the team's top scorer on three occasions 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 .516 (80-155) field goal percentage and is fifth in the Atlantic 10.
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.
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. 
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