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University of Massachusets Athletics
A-10 Hosts Second Annual Women's Basketball Media Day
October 21, 2014 | Women's Basketball
Atlantic 10 Media Day Information
Media Day Live Stream (NeuLion) | Media Day Live Stream (A-10 App)
Photo Gallery: UMass At A-10 Media Day 
Official Atlantic 10 Release: Dayton Unanimous Favorite To Win A-10
2014-15 UMass Women's Basketball Preseason Team Information
Quick Facts 
| Record Book | Team Notes & Prospectus
Social Media
@UMassWBB | @UMassAthletics | @Atlantic10
RICHMOND, Va. - University of Massachusetts women's basketball head coach Sharon Dawley attended the 2014-15 Atlantic 10 Women's Basketball Media Day on Tuesday, Oct. 21. It marked the second annual on-site event in Richmond.
Thirteen of the 14 league head coaches will meet with members of the local media as well as the Atlantic 10 Digital Network and CBS Sports during the second annual event. Below is a season preview, social media updates from throughout the day, as well as a preseason practice update courtesy of the UMass Sports Network (@UMassSportsNet).
Almost ready for #A10WBB Media Day in Richmond! The season is just around the corner! Are you ready for basketball? pic.twitter.com/mceCR6TDZp
-- Atlantic10Conference (@atlantic10) October 21, 2014
.@UMassWBB head coach Sharon Dawley sits down with @CBSSportsNet at @atlantic10 media day now. pic.twitter.com/CqF26R0UuJ
-- UMass Athletics (@UMassAthletics) October 21, 2014
#A10WBB: Our "14 Coaches in 14 Days" preseason profiles begin November 1st at http://t.co/cTwhUyOCYB ! #RoadToRVA
-- RVA Sports Network (@TheRVASportsNet) October 21, 2014
The Atlantic 10 Conference released its 2014-15 preseason poll and preseason all-conference selections during the ceremony. The Minutewomen were chosen 14th in by voting of the head coaches. The complete list along with preseason all-conference selections are included below:
2014-15 Atlantic 10 Women's Basketball Preseason Poll
1. Dayton - 196 points (14 first place votes)
2. George Washington - 173
3. Saint Joseph's - 156
4. St. Bonaventure - 153
5. Fordham - 143
6. Richmond - 104
7. Duquesne - 103
8. La Salle - 97
9. Saint Louis - 90
10. VCU - 87
11. George Mason - 54
12. Davidson - 42
13. Rhode Island - 39
14. Massachusetts - 24
2014-15 Atlantic 10 Preseason All-Conference First Team
Natasha Cloud, Saint Joseph's
Katie Healy, St. Bonaventure
Andrea Hoover, Dayton
Jonquel Jones - George Washington
Ally Malott - Dayton
2014-15 Atlantic 10 Preseason All-Conference Second Team
Taylor Brown, George Mason
Alicia Cropper, La Salle
Amber Deane, Dayton
Gen Okoro, Richmond
Caira Washington, George Washington
2014-15 Atlantic 10 Preseason All-Conference Third Team
Samantha Clark, Fordham
Celeste Edwards, Dayton
Sarah Fairbanks, Saint Joseph's
Erin Nelson, Saint Louis
Keira Robinson, VCU
2014-15 Atlantic 10 Preseason All-Defensive Team
Natasha Cloud, Saint Joseph's
Celeste Edwards, Dayton
Jonquel Jones, George Washington
Chakecia Miller, George Washington
Caira Washington, George Washington
UMass Women's Basketball 2014-15 Season Preview
The UMass women's basketball program brings back three key starters and a host of key contributors from one year ago as head coach Sharon Dawley prepares the Minutewomen for the 2014-15 campaign.
Massachusetts returns leading scorer Kim Pierre-Louis and top rebounder and assists extraordinaire Rashida Timbilla alongside three-point leader Emily Mital. Pierre-Louis and Mital enter their senior seasons while Timbilla begins her junior year after two campaigns as a starting guard and forward.
Paula Tarnachowicz rounds out the three-member senior class. The 2014-15 season marks the second for Tarnachowicz with the Minutewomen as she is a transfer from Panola College in Carthage, Texas. Tarnachowicz, tied for the tallest on the team at 6-foot-2, will again occupy the paint for UMass after she appeared in 23 games and made a pair of starts as a junior in 2013-14.
Sophomore Kymber Hill and freshman Maggie Mulligan also measure 6-foot-2 and could play important roles in the interior game for the Minutewomen with Pierre-Louis, Timbilla and Tarnachowicz. Hill started 21 of the 30 games she played in as a freshman and scored 4.4 points with 3.4 rebounds over 19.3 minutes per contest. Mulligan is entering her first year with the program after she tallied 1,010 points, grabbed 803 rebounds and blocked 525 shots over her scholastic career at Boston Latin High School.
Alyx Stiff rounds out the sophomore class alongside Hill. She will vie for minutes at the guard position with Mital, redshirt-junior Amber Dillon, junior Victoria Stewart and newcomers Cierra Dillard and Leah McDerment. Stiff notched 2.6 points and 1.4 rebounds in 26 appearances last year while Dillon also scored 2.6 points per game and dished out 23 assists on the season. Stewart played 39 minutes during 12 appearances in 2013-14.
McDerment traveled to UMass from Stockport, England, where she was her country's 2013 U16 Player of the Year following her performance at the 2012 U16 European Championship. She continued her growth in the game with a selection to Great Britain's U20 roster in the Summer 2013 after she competed with the U18 squad at the European Championship.
Dillard, the all-time leading scorer in Gates Chili High School girl's basketball history, finished her scholastic career as one of only 20 girls in New York State Section V history with more than 2,000 points. She was a three-star recruit according to ESPN and was nominated alongside UMass teammate Ciara Rosten for the 2014 McDonalds All-American Game.
Rosten, a forward, surpassed 1,000 career points and rebounds during her junior year at Maryvale High School and went on to be chosen for the New York Sportswriters and Coaches Organization All-State team.
The University of Massachusetts also added one transfer to the roster during the offseason that will be eligible following the mandated NCAA transfer policy year-in-residency. Alyssa Lawrence, who will redshirt the 2014-15 season, played forward at San Diego State as a true-freshman in 2013-14 after she graduated from The Ursuline School in New Rochelle, N.Y. Lawrence was a three-star prospect according to ESPN who earned all-league an all-section accolades during her scholastic playing days.
There are new faces on the coaching and administrative staff as well in 2014-15. Yolanda Griffith, a two-time gold medal winning Olympian with Team USA, joined the coaches as an assistant after stops at Dartmouth (2011-13) and Lafayette (2013-14). Kellie Olson, a two-year standout at Stetson from 2006-08, was named the director of operations after Chris Wielgus, who has 30 years of coaching experience, was elevated to assistant coach from director of operations.
