Nov. 15, 2011
AMHERST, Mass. –
Coming off a season-opening victory over Boston University, the UMass women’s basketball team will look to keep the momentum going as the squad will play its second straight home game on Wednesday evening, playing host to Central Connecticut at 7 p.m. in the Mullins Center. Both the Minutewomen and the Blue Devils are 1-0 heading into the contest that will be televised locally on CBS 3 Now and can also be seen online on UMass All-Access and heard on WMUA 91.1 FM. Cody Chrusciel and Ryan X. Murray will call the action.
Scouting Central Connecticut
Central Connecticut enjoyed its winningest season of recent memory in 2010-11, posting a 19-11 overall record and reaching the Northeast Conference semifinals for the third year in a row. Five seniors led the Blue Devils last year, and CCSU will look to three returners to guide the Blue Devils in 2011-12: Kirsten Daamen, Rachel Chandler, and Jessica Babe.
Central Connecticut started off its season with a 53-48 win over Maine at home last Friday. Babe posted a team-high 16 points. Not far behind each other were Arbogast and Daamen, Arbogast with 10 and nine on the evening, respectively. Junior center, Daamen, started 15 of the Blue Devils’ 30 games last year and shot .531 from the field while also averaging 1.9 rebounds per-game.
Junior guard, Jaclyn Babe, sophomore guard, Jessica Babe, and sophomore forward Lauren Arbogast all played together at Mt. Lebanon High School in Pittsburgh. Jaclyn is a transfer from Duquesne and redshirted last year. The leading returning scorer from last years campaign is Jaclyn Babe’s twin, Jessica. Jessica had 141 points last season in 30 games played, but did not play Friday night. Arbogast had limited time last year as a freshman and averaged 1.5 rebounds per-contest.
Series History
Central Connecticut and UMass first met on the court on Feb. 1, 1972, with the Blue Devils claiming a 49-25 win. The Minutewomen have won 15 of the next 17 games against CCSU, most recently on Jan. 2, 1993, a 59-45 road victory. The win was the fifth straight for UMass in the series.
Last Time: Minutewomen Defeat BU In Opener
The Minutewomen held Boston University scoreless for the opening 5:30 and never trailed in the contest on the way to a 55-49 season-opening win over the Boston University at the Mullins Center this past Sunday.
Junior Shakia Robinson led UMass with 22 points and also grabbed eight rebounds, while shooting 8-for-16. Sixth-year senior Megan Zullo shot 5-for-7 from three-point range and finished with 17 points.
In her debut as a Minutewoman, redshirt sophomore Carolann Cloutier corralled a team-best 10 rebounds and handed out six assists. Both marks surpassed her previous career highs from her freshman season at Old Dominion, five and four, respectively.
Defensively the Minutewomen held three BU starters to a combined 5-for-34 (14.7%) from the floor on the afternoon and just three bench points. Among those starters for the Terriers, was reigning America East Player of the Year Chantell Alford, limited by UMass to five points and three rebounds on 2-for-15 shooting.
The contest marked the first time the Minutewomen held an opponent under 30% shooting for a game since Jan. 19, 2011 vs. Saint Louis. BU finished 20-for-71 (28.2%) from the field.
UMass out-rebounded Boston University, 50-42, the first 50-rebound game for the program since posting 50 at Rhode Island on Feb. 2, 2006.
In the record book, Megan Zullo passed Kim Benton (2006-10) for fifth on the career three-point field goals list, now with 129. She is four behind Kathy Coyner (1997-2001) for fourth (133).
Jasmine Watson (four blocks) took over sole possession of seventh on the UMass career list, now with 79, passing Caroline Nehls (1998-2002).
Four players made their UMass debuts against the Terriers: Carolann Cloutier, Emily Mital, Aisha Rodney and Millie Niggeling. Mital and Niggeling tallied their first career points, while Mital, Rodney and Niggeling all grabbed their first career rebounds.
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 554 career points, 210 assists and is 129-for-342 (.377) beyond the arc. She is currently ranked fifth on the UMass career list in three-point percentage and assist average (3.5), and three-point field goals made (129) 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
Sophomore 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 at UMass, Watson has totaled 624 career points (12.0 ppg), 350 rebounds (6.6 rpg) and 79 blocks. At Rhode Island this past January, Watson scored a career-best 27 points.
Watson, the 2009-10 Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year, enters her junior season tied for 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.
