Former UMass women's basketball standouts Tamara and Alisha Tatham and UMass field hockey assistant coach Shannon Taylor began action at the Olympics over the weekend.
Canada dropped a close game with Russia, 58-53 on Saturday. Tamara Tatham played 25 minutes and totaled four points, five rebounds and two steals. Alisha Tatham saw nine minutes of action.
Canada Women's Basketball Remaining Schedule
Monday, July 30 vs. Great Britain - 3:00 PM EST
Wednesday, Aug. 1 vs. France - 4:00 AM EST
Friday, Aug. 3 vs. Brazil - 9:30 AM EST
Sunday, Aug. 5 vs. Australia - 9:30 AM EST
Taylor and USA Field Hockey dropped a 2-1 decision to Germany yesterday. She played 52 minutes and had one of USA's seven shots.
USA Field Hockey Remaining Schedule
Tuesday, Aug. 31 vs. Argentina - 2:00 PM EST
Thursday, Aug. 2 vs. Australia - 5:45 AM EST
Saturday, Aug. 4 vs. New Zealand - 2:00 PM EST
Monday, Aug. 6 vs. South Africa - 5:45 AM EST
Live streaming coverage of all events can be found here via NBC.
Congratulations to UMass women's basketball alumni Tamara and Alisha Tatham who have helped the Canadian Senior Women's National Team earn an Olympic berth, capturing the 10th and final spot in the field at the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
Matt Vautour has this nice feature on the Tatham sisters in today's Daily Hampshire Gazette:
As the final seconds ticked off the clock in Ankara, Turkey, the magnitude of what was happening started to hit the Canadian women's national basketball team. Japan's 14-2 run in the fourth quarter had fallen short and for the first time since Sydney in 2000, Canada was going to the Olympics.
When the final buzzer sounded of the 71-63 win, the women converged on each other. Some shouted, some cried happy tears and included in the pile were University of Massachusetts alumni Tamara and Alisha Tatham.
"I was almost speechless. It was like 'Oh my god, we're going to the Olympics.' We were all jumping around. People were crying," Tamara said. "It really didn't sink in until a couple hours later. It's a great feeling."
Her younger sister agreed.
"The last minute was pretty emotional for me and the other girls. The time was ticking away and we knew we had it in the bag," Alisha said. "I shed a few tears and was pretty emotional. A dream of mine had finally come true. I was excited about that."
Read More: UMass alumni Tamara and Alisha Tatham to lace up for Team Canada
