Nov. 28, 2011
AMHERST, Mass. -
The UMass women's basketball team begins a stretch of three straight road games on Tuesday night, Nov. 29, when the team will head to Hamden, Conn., to face Quinnipiac at 7 p.m. Currently the Minutewomen sit at 1-4 on the year and will take on the Bobcats who enter the matchup at 3-2, riding a three-game winning streak.
Scouting Quinnipiac
Quinnipiac enters Tuesday's game with a three-game winning streak, the Bobcats' last win coming at St. Mary's (69-67). The team has also defeated Minnesota (64-62) and Fairfield (54-55).
Junior guard Felicia Barron is the team's leading scorer with 76 points on the season. She averages 15.2 points per-game and has a team-high 20 assists, while also pacing the squad in steals with 26.
Sophomore forward Brittany Mcquain is also averaging in double figures with 13.4 points per-game. She is also the team's leading rebounder, averaging 10.8 per-game.
UMass Against The Northeast Conference (25-6)
Bryant (0-0)
Central Connecticut State (15-4)
Fairleigh Dickinson (1-0)
Long Island (1-0)
Monmouth (0-0)
Mount St. Mary's (0-0)
Quinnipiac (1-0)
Robert Morris (0-0)
Sacred Heart (1-1)
St. Francis (NY) (0-0)
St. Francis (PA) (1-0)
Wagner (5-1)
Series History
Tuesday's game will be the second meeting of UMass and Quinnipiac. UMass won 82-66 in the first matchup two years ago in the 2009-10 season at the Brown Bear Classic.
Last Time Against Quinnipiac
Led by a career-high 21 points and 14 rebounds from senior Diatiema Hill, the UMass women's basketball team captured its second straight Brown Classic title with an 82-66 win over Quinnipiac on Dec. 9, 2009, at the Pizzitola Sports Center.
Hill was a perfect 11-for-11 at the free throw line and 5-for-7 from the field for UMass on her way to all-tournament team honors. She logged her first career double-double and first career 20-point game, chipping in six assists, as well. Redshirt junior Megan Zullo shot a blistering 6-for-8 from three-point range and totaled a career-best 20 for the Minutewomen. Sophomore Kristina Danella was the third UMass player in double figures with 13 points to go along with seven boards and earned a spot on the all-tournament team.
Also contributing for the Minutewomen, freshman Jasmine Watson added nine points and six rebounds, while sophomore Nicole Jones totaled eight points. Senior Kim Benton corralled six rebounds, as well.
Play was even through the first 10 or so minutes of the opening half as Quinnipiac led, but was unable to gain more than a one-possession advantage. UMass hit a cold stretch, going without a field goal for nearly seven minutes, which allowed the Bobcats to stretch the margin to eight, 31-23, at 2:23 on a pair of free throws by Jacki Mann. However, Zullo broke the draught for the Minutewomen with a trey at 2:06. She followed up by hitting two more from beyond the arc as UMass ended the period with a 10-0 run and went to the locker room on top, 33-31.
The teams traded buckets through the first four minutes of the second period and Quinnipiac took its final lead on a free throw by Jacinda Dunbar at 16:36 that brought the score to 39-38.
Once again sparked by a three from Zullo, the UMass offense came alive. The Minutewomen scored the next 11 straight points to race out to a 49-39 advantage with 12:55 remaining. Following a Bobcats' trey by Felicia Barron at 8:04, an answering three by Danella on the next UMass possession expanded the squad's cushion to 12. The Minutewomen led by double figures the rest of the way.
UMass shot 26-for-58 (44.8%) in the contest, including 15-for-27 (55.6%) in the second half. From three-point range, the Minutewomen went 11-for-29 (37.9%), making 5-of-8 (62.5%) after the intermission. At the free throw line, the squad went 15-for-26 (73.1%), with a 14-for-15 (93.3%) performance in the second.
Mann recorded a team-best 15 points and eight rebounds for Quinnipiac, while Courtney Kaminski tallied 14 points and seven boards and Kathleen Neyens contributed 13 and six. The Bobcats shot 22-for-60 (36.7%) overall, 5-for-17 (29.4%) from three and 17-for-26 (65.4%) at the foul line.
For a second straight game, the Minutewomen saw significant contributions from reserves as the squad held a 38-10 edge in bench points. UMass out-rebounded Quinnipiac, 41-37, as well.
Last Time: Ole Miss Edges UMass, 72-67
Despite a well-rounded team effort by the UMass women's basketball squad, Ole Miss managed to rally in the second half to edge the Minutewomen, 72-67 at the Mullins Center on Saturday afternoon.
Junior Jasmine Watson led three Minutewomen in double figures, posting her second double-double of the year and 11th of her career with 14 points and 11 rebounds to go along with three assists and two steals. It marked her fourth straight game in double figures and was the team's top rebounder for the third time this season. She currently leads the team with an average of 9.0 rebounds per-game.
Watson passed Martha Ready (1979-82, 69 games, 667 points) for 32nd on the all-time scoring list in the contest.
Shakia Robinson had 17 points and five boards off the bench, her fourth time in double figures this season. It marked her third time as the team's high scorer this season. She currently leads the Minutewomen on the year with 15.0 points per-game.
Redshirt-sophomore Carolann Cloutier added a career-high 15 points and dished four assists. She surpased her previous high of 11 from her freshman year at Old Dominion.
Senior Emilie Teuscher chipped in with eight points, six boards and five assists. She played a career-high 38 minutes in the contest. It marked her second career game with five or more assists.
Freshman Aisha Rodney made her first collegiate start and posted hersecond straight game with 5 or more rebounds.
UMass registered a season high 67 points, on a season-best 43.3% (26-60) shooting from the field, while sinking four from beyond the arc. The Minutewomen tied a season high in field goals made with 26. The last time the Minutewomen sank 26 was in the 76-64 loss at Holy Cross on Nov. 22.
The Minutewomen dished out a season-high 18 assists against the Rebels. Teuscher led the squad with a season high five, while Megan Zullo and Carolann Cloutier recorded four each.
Minutewomen On The Boards
The Minutewomen have outrebounded their opponents in four-of-five games this season. UMass tallied a season-high 50 rebounds in back-to-games to open the year against Boston University and Central Connecticut, the team's first two 50-rebound games since 2006.
UMass has collected 12 or more offensive rebounds in the past two games, with a season-high 13 coming in the 76-64 loss vs. Holy Cross on Nov. 22.
Through five games on the year, the Minutewomen are +2.0 in rebounding margin per-game, compared to -2.0 in 2010-11.
Many Happy Returns
The Minutewomen have just five members of their 12-player squad that saw action at UMass in 2010-11. However, four out of the five (Dee Montgomery, Emilie Teuscher, Jasmine Watson and Megan Zullo) were starters for the Minutewomen last season.
UMass brings back five of its top-six returning scorers or 65% of the team's point production from a year ago. Those five were also five of the top-six rebounders, accounting for 594 of the team's 1091 boards in 2010-11 or 54%.
Zullo Back For More
Guard Megan Zullo returns for the Minutewomen in 2011-12 after being granted a sixth year by the NCAA. Zullo was awarded the additional year of eligibility due to the injuries she sustained as a freshman at North Carolina State and as a junior.
Zullo played all 30 games last season and averaged 10.5 points per-game, good for fourth on the squad and was third in the Atlantic 10 win an average of 4.5 assists per-game. Her total of 135 helpers was the ninth-best single season total of all time in program history, while her tally of 70 three-pointers is second-most on the single season list. She set UMass records for minutes played in a season in 2010-11 with 1,136 and minutes average (37.9).
Through two seasons and counting with the Minutewomen after coming from N.C. State, Zullo has totaled 586 career points, 224 assists and is 137-for-361 (.380) beyond the arc. She is currently ranked fourth on the UMass career list in three-point field goals made (137), fifth in three-point percentage and assist average (3.5), and sixth in minutes average (32.0).
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, 2010 vs. George Mason, last year's season opener.
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.
Earlier this fall, Zullo was named to the College Sports Madness Atlantic 10 Preseason All-Conference second team.
All That Jas
Junior Jasmine Watson, UMass' top returning scorer, has been named to the preseason Atlantic 10 third team for a second straight year.
After missing the first eight games of 2010-11, Watson came back from injury to lead the team in scoring and rebounding with averages of 14.4 and 7.6, respectively, while also contributing 1.7 blocks per-game.
She posted seven double-doubles on the year and was the team's top scorer in seven games. In conference play, Watson averaged 14.4 points and 7.9 rebounds per contest, good for 12th and sixth in the league, respectively.
Through two seasons and counting at UMass, Watson has totaled 677 career points (11.9 ppg), 389 rebounds (6.8 rpg) and 86 blocks. At Rhode Island this past January, Watson scored a career-best 27 points.
Watson, the 2009-10 Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year, begins her junior season seventh on the program's all-time list for career blocks and ranks third in blocked shots average.
From Near And Far
UMass' 12-player roster is comprised of individuals from 11 different states and provinces, including three international players.
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 six new players that will see the floor for the first time this season: freshman guard Emily Mital, freshman forwards Ronni Grandison, Kim Pierre-Louis and Aisha Rodney and two players who sat out as redshirts in 2010-11, center Millie Niggeling and guard Carolann Cloutier.
Among the high school accomplishments of the freshman group, Rodney was a four-time all-state selection at Grosse Pointe South High School in Michigan and Mital was an all-state honoree as a senior and as a junior out of Frisco Liberty High School in Texas.
Cloutier, a transfer from Old Dominion, played with Team Canada at the World University games before college. Niggeling was a four-time all-state selection at Bishop Heelan and helped the team to two Iowa state titles.
Pair Of Telecasts To Air Live in Boston
Nelligan Sports Marketing has reached an agreement with WBIN-TV that will allow UMass fans in the greater Boston area to watch approximately a dozen live broadcasts of UMass games, including two women's basketball games. The contests will be produced by the UMass Sports Network.
In addition to every home game airing locally on CBS 3 Now, the Minutewomen's matchups against Maine on Dec. 11 and Saint Joseph's on Jan. 7 will air on WBIN-TV.
WBIN-TV, the only locally owned and operated TV station in the Boston/Manchester market, reaches 2.4 million households and over 5 million people in 500 towns in eastern and central Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. It is available on Comcast channel 18 (811 in HD), FiOS channel 6 (506 in HD), DirecTV channel 50/950 and Dish Network channel 50/8777.
UMass Women's Basketball Radio Show On WMUA
Throughout the 2011-12 season, catch up on what's going on with the Minutewomen as WMUA broadcasters Ryan X. Murray and Pat O'Neil 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.
Mosgrove Playing Overseas
Recent graduate Cerie Mosgrove is continuing her basketball career overseas. The 6-0 guard, who completed her fourth year with the Minutewomen in 2010-11, signed with T71 Dudelange of the Luxembourg-Diekirch League this past summer.
Mosgrove led the nation in three-point percentage in 2010-11, finishing her senior campaign 78-of-157 from beyond the arc for a 49.7% clip, and won the National Women's 3-Point Shooting Championship in Houston, Texas.
She set UMass records for threes made, three-point percentage and free throw percentage (.864) in 2010-2011 and ranks third all-time for career three-point field goals made (171) and career three-point percentage (.390).
The guard set career highs in every statistical category in her final campaign with the Minutewomen, including points (408) and rebounds (195). She finished second on the squad in scoring (14.4 ppg) and rebounding average (6.5 rpg). In her four-year career at UMass, Mosgrove totaled 758 points and 336 rebounds.
Tatham Sisters Help Canada To Bronze At FIBA Americas
UMass women's basketball alums Tamara and Alisha Tatham recently helped Team Canada to a bronze medal at the FIBA Americas Tournamen this fall. Canada will now move on to the World Olympic Qualifier in June for a chance to secure a position in the 2012 Olympics.
Canada defeated Cuba, 59-46, in the bronze medal game, aided by six rebounds from Tamara Tatham. She also contributed five points, while Alisha Tatham played five minutes and recorded one blocked shot.
Alisha Tatham has been a member of the Canadian National Team for eight years and has played in 64 international contests. Tamara Tatham has been with Team Canada for six years, appearing in 59 games.
A 2007 graduate, Tamara Tatham plays professionally with the Halle Lions in Halle, Germany. The 6-1 forward finished her career with the Minutewomen 10th all-time in scoring (1,186 points) and ranks in the top-10 for career steals (4th, 190), rebounds (5th, 755), blocks (8th, 115) and free throws (8th, 282), as well.
Tamara's younger sister, Alisha, graduated from UMass in 2008 and appeared in 116 career games with the Minutewomen. She totaled 524 points with 281 rebounds and 147 assists. She currently plays for Point Chaud Sprimont in Belgium. 
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