UMass beats Maine, falls to Providence over weekend

By: MICHAEL COUNOS | December 12, 2011 | ShareThis

Behind Emilie Teuscher’s career-high 18 points, the Massachusetts women’s basketball team snapped an eight game winless streak on Sunday afternoon as it defeated Maine, 63-54.

UMass (2-8) got out to a quick 7-1 lead and never let up, holding the Black Bears (3-7) to no field goals in the first six minutes, 22 seconds of the game. UMass exploited the frantic Black Bear offense by forcing 12 takeaways in the first half. The Minutewomen went into intermission with a 28-16 lead.

The second half was no different for UMass, beginning the half with a 9-1 run to bring its lead to 20 points. With just over 15 minutes remaining the Minutewomen held their largest lead of the day, 41-19. The Black Bears did outscore UMass, 38-35, in the half, but were not able to cut the deficit to single digits except for when Kelsey Mattice hit a desperation 3-pointer with 27 seconds remaining.

UM looks to snap losing streak at home

By: MICHAEL COUNOS | December 08, 2011 | ShareThis

The Minutewomen (1-7) are coming off a tough road trip, dropping three games to Quinnipiac, George Mason and most recently Boston College.

UMass takes on the Friars (4-5) on Friday night at 7 p.m. The Friars have been cold as of late, losing their last two games – most recently a 69-42 loss to Villanova – fresh off its four-game winning streak.

The big scorer for the Friars is Teya Wright, who has been the team’s leading scorer in six of its nine games. The 6-foot-1-forward provides the inside presence that Providence relies on as the senior is a consistent double-double threat, averaging 15.6 points and 11.2 rebounds per game.

Minutewomen fall short on the road at Quinnipiac

By: MICHAEL COUNOS | November 29, 2011 | ShareThis

Despite holding Quinnipiac to 33 percent shooting, the Massachusetts women’s basketball team fell to the Bobcats, 66-63, on Tuesday night.

With just under a minute and a half remaining in the game, UMass trailed by two, and forced a missed shot from Brittany McQuain. As it seemed like the Bobcats were about to score and ice the game, UMass came up with a pivotal defensive stop when Carolann Cloutier grabbed the defensive rebound with 22 seconds left. A timeout was called with 14 seconds left as UMass coach Sharon Dawley drew up the final play for UMass.

Following an inbound pass, guard Dee Montgomery drove to the basket with three seconds on the clock, but missed her layup attempt. Mcquain grabbed the rebound and was fouled, sending her to the free throw line with a chance to put the game out of reach, and that’s exactly what she did. McQuain netted one of two free throws to extend the lead to three points. With under two seconds to play, any attempt at a half-court shot for the Minutewomen was impossible.

UM falls to Miami (Ohio), faces Holy Cross on Tuesday

By: MICHAEL COUNOS | November 21, 2011 | ShareThis

A 9-for-21 effort from the 3-point line led Miami (Ohio) to an 81-56 win over the Massachusetts women’s basketball team on Saturday. Despite having three players in double digits, UMass lost its second consecutive game, moving its record to 1-2 on the season.

The Minutewomen traveled to Oxford, Ohio for their first road game of the year. UMass struggled shooting in the first half, amassing 32.3 percent, while the RedHawks (2-1) were just over 50 percent. The Minutewomen got in a hole early, going down 16-6 as the RedHawks outscored UMass 10-2 in a span of four minutes, 19 seconds. The Minutewomen went into halftime trailing 40-28, led by Shakia Robinson with 18 points.

Minutewomen try to remain undefeated

By: MICHAEL COUNOS | November 16, 2011 | ShareThis

The Massachusetts women’s basketball team will look to win its second straight game at home when it takes on Central Connecticut State on Wednesday night at the Mullins Center.

Lorin Reid/Collegian

UMass coach Sharon Dawley is trying to improve on the 7-23 overall record that her team posted last season, when Dawley was hired as head coach.

“I feel like we’re a lot more in sync with each other, last year being our first year with coach [Dawley] and now we have her system down,” said Megan Zullo in a UMassAthletics.com post-game interview.

UM falls to Temple in A-10 semifinals

By: MICHAEL COUNOS | November 06, 2011 | ShareThis

The Massachusetts field hockey team’s pursuit of a 13th Atlantic 10 title ended on Friday against Temple in a 4-0 loss.

UMass came into the A-10 tournament with the No. 2 seed set to face the No. 3 seed Owls. The Minutewomen had played well in conference play with their only loss coming to Richmond in the regular season who received the No. 1 seed.

Earlier this season the Minutewomen defeated the Owls, 2-1, in overtime on Oct. 23. However, UMass never got it going offensively as it was shut out 4-0 by the Owls in this game.

Temple got out to the early lead with a score in the ninth minute by Amber Youtz off a deflection, for her fourth goal of the season. In the 25th minute, Bridget Settles did what she does best, scoring her 19th goal of the season off a penalty corner to double the UMass deficit. The Minutewomen were outshot 9-2 in the first half going into intermission down 2-0, still within striking distance.

Minutewomen playing for title, seniors

By: MICHAEL COUNOS | October 26, 2011 | ShareThis

The Massachusetts field hockey team’s game on Friday will feature plenty of pressure. Not only are the Minutewomen playing Richmond for the conference title and the No. 1 seed in the Atlantic 10 tournament, but the four seniors will play their final game at Garber Field.

The UMass seniors include Christine Cutry and Amanda Dietz on defense, Nikki Pancioccio at midfield and All-American goalie Alesha Widdall. Each of these players has seen two Atlantic 10 tournament championships and is playing for a third in the final season of their collegiate careers.

Minutewomen sit atop A-10 standings

By: MICHAEL COUNOS | October 24, 2011 | ShareThis

The Massachusetts field hockey team now stands alone atop the Atlantic 10 standings. The Minutewomen (7-9, 5-0 A-10) remain undefeated in conference play after wins over La Salle and Temple over the weekend.

UMass has now won 15 consecutive regular season conference games dating back to 2009.

On Friday, the Minutewomen hosted the Explorers (7-9, 2-2 A-10) at Garber Field. UMass sported pink shirts during the pre-game warm-ups in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Day.  La Salle was coming off an overtime loss to Temple while the Minutewomen were coming off a weekend in which they netted 10 goals in two games.

Minutewomen look to go 3-0 in the Atlantic 10

By: MICHAEL COUNOS | October 12, 2011 | ShareThis

The Massachusetts field hockey team looks to stay undefeated in Atlantic 10 conference play as they take on Saint Joseph’s and Saint Louis this weekend. UMass currently sits at 3-9 overall and 1-0 in A-10 play.

The Minutewomen are coming off a loss to non-conference opponent No. 16 Albany last Sunday. The game was scoreless heading into double overtime, thanks to the performance of senior captain Alesha Widdall in net, who recorded a career-high 12 saves. The match came down to penalty strokes when the second overtime period ended at 0-0. The Great Danes scored twice on penalty shots while the Minutewomen were unable to put any away, dropping the match, 1-0.

Field Hockey looks forward to conference schedule beginning on Oct. 8

By: MICHAEL COUNOS | October 06, 2011 | ShareThis

The Massachusetts field hockey team lost to Syracuse, 2-0, dropping its record to 2-8 on the season, while extending its losing streak to five games as it currently sits on the bottom of the Atlantic 10 standings.

The Minutewomen can put all that behind them.

A-10 play begins this weekend for UMass as they travel to Lock Haven to kick off their conference schedule. The conference schedule is when the Minutewomen have been known to thrive over the years.