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.

The Minutewomen were just 22-for-61 from the field but took advantage at the free throw line going 11-for-15. UMass was hot from beyond the arc, converting going 8-for-21, while the Black Bears made just two all game. In one of the rare times this season, UMass was out=rebounded, 46-45.

Shakia Robinson corralled a career-best 16 rebounds and scored 10 points, recording the third double-double of her career. With the performance, Robinson became the first UMass player since 2008 to grab at least 15 rebounds in a single game. Redshirt sophomore Carolann Cloutier and guard Megan Zullo both reached double figures with 10 and 11 points, respectively.

For Maine, Ashleigh Roberts was the only player in double figures with 10 points. Rebecca Knight was right behind her with nine points while Danielle Walczak grabbed a team-high eight boards.

UMass knocked off by Providence

The Minutewomen did not fare as well on Friday night when they took on Providence as the Friars knocked off UMass, 66-45, at the Mullins Center.

Unfortunately for the Minutewomen, only three players showed up for their team as Teuscher, Robinson and Watson combined for 15-for-29 shooting while the rest of the squad was held to just 2-for-21 from the field.

Robinson led the team in scoring and rebounding with 15 points and eight boards. Teuscher dropped 12 points and distributed five dimes as Watson contributed with 11 points. For Watson, it was her eighth consecutive game scoring in double figures.

The game got out to an early 5-5 tie and that would be the closest UMass would come. UMass went scoreless in a streak of over five minutes and allowed the Friars to take a 20-point lead. In the second half, UMass couldn’t cut the deficit below 19 points as it lost its eighth straight contest.

“They’re definitely strong inside, I think the presence by [Teya] Wright in the paint, she is definitely quite a presence both defensively and offensively,” said UMass coach Sharon Dawley in a UMassAthletics.com post-game interview.

Teya Wright, the Friars best player on the roster, led Providence with 17 points and 11 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the season. Rachel Barnes contributed with 13 points and four rebounds. The Friars also out-rebounded UMass, 43-34.

The pair of weekend games was the last time UMass will play at the Mullins Center before the new year. On Jan. 3, 2012, the Minutewomen return to Mullins to take on Harvard after a four-game road stretch.

Michael Counos can be reached at mcounos@student.umass.edu and followed on Twitter @MDC_Counos.

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.

Danielle Pearson controls the offense with a team-high 26 assists, while the Friars receive additional contributions from Rachel Barnes, Symone Roberts and Alicia Cropper, each averaging over eight points per game.

On Sunday, UMass takes on the Black Bears at 1 p.m. in the Mullins Center. Maine currently sits at 3-5 on the season and has struggled of late, losing its last two contests by double-digit margins to George Washington and Navy.

The Black Bears play a balanced offensive style with six players pitching in with at least five points per game.

Ashleigh Roberts leads the way with an average outpout of 9.1 points, followed closely by Brittany Williams and her 8.6 points a night.

Shareka Maner leads the squad on the glass, collecting five boards per game while Roberts has grabbed 4.2 a game. Maner has also provided opportunities in the turnover ratio, with 13 steals already this season.

Courtney Anderson is the outside threat, shooting 50 percent from beyond the arc on 13-of-26 shooting.

Both Anderson and Williams are the distributors on the team, each dishing out just over two dimes per game.

One area where the Minutewomen will look to exploit the Black Bears is in the turnover ratio, as Maine commits just under 20 turnovers a night. Meanwhile UMass takes slightly better care of the ball, coughing up just 17.5 turnovers per game, but struggles in the turnover ratio, only forcing 11.9 miscues per contest.

The Minutewomen will look to improve on a couple areas, especially offensive rebounds, as UMass’ opposition has grabbed, on average, just short of five more offensive rebounds per game.

Guards Megan Zullo and Emilie Teuscher have provided the team’s only threat from outside with a combined 33 field goals from 3-point range.

However, it has been the post play of Shakia Robinson and Jasmine Watson that have been the workhorses for the Minutewomen throughout the season. Robinson leads the team with 12.9 points per game, while Watson is close behind with her 12.5 a night.

Carolann Cloutier has been a great addition to the roster, leading the squad with her 4.5 assists per contest.

The pair of home games will be the team’s last for a while as UMass follows with a four-game road stint. The Minutewomen’s next home affair is after the beginning of the new year with Harvard on Jan. 3.

Michael Counos can be reached at mcounos@student.umass.edu and followed on Twitter at MDC_Counos.

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.

The Minutewomen dropped to 1-5 overall after the loss while the Bobcats improved to 4-2 on the season.

UMass was led by Jasmine Watson, who totaled 18 points and eight rebounds. Other Minutewomen in double-figures included senior guard Emilie Teuscher with 12, Kim Pierre-Louis with 11 and Cloutier with 10. Shakia Robinson was a non-factor in this game as she was held scoreless in 14 minutes of play. McQuain led the way for the Bobcats with a double-double, while Martin pitched in 11 points and Warner added 13.

The game stayed close throughout the entire first half. UMass got its largest lead of the half when Cloutier made a 3-pointer to extend the Minutewomen’s lead to six with just over two minutes to play. The Bobcats clawed their way back at the end of the half but went into the break with UMass leading, 34-31.

In the second half the game stayed tight the entire time. After dropping its halftime lead, UMass tied the game again with 14 minutes left when Teuscher made a 3-pointer to knot the score at 43. Nine minutes later, the Minutewomen were able to jump out to a six point lead with five minutes left to play after Cloutier hit a jump-shot.

Then, Aisha Rodney fouled McQuain, who made both of her free throws to cut the deficit to four. A steal by Lisa Lebak with just over five minutes remaining turned into a Martin bucket to bring the Bobcats to within two.

Lebak then hit a 3-pointer four seconds later to give the Bobcats a 60-59 lead, made possible by Camryn Warner’s offensive rebound and assist.

Trailing by one, Watson made a steal with two and a half minutes left, but ended up turning the ball over as the Bobcats increased their lead to three. Pierre-Louis made a key basket with a minute and a half left bringing the score to 65-63 but the Minutewomen were unable to tie the game as time expired.

The Minutewomen’s struggles came in two areas: turnovers and allowing too many offensive rebounds. UMass committed 22 turnovers to Quinnipiac’s 11, and the Bobcats ended the game with 10 steals. However, what really hurt UMass was allowing second-chance opportunities on 22 offensive rebounds.

In the contest, Quinnipiac fired off 74 total shots while the Minutewomen settled for 51. Fouls were an issue as well, with three Minutewomen ending the game with four fouls and Rodney fouling out of the game in the second half. The Bobcats converted on 16-for-28 attempts from the line, while the Minutewomen were efficient shooting 12-for-17.

The series is now split between the two teams, as UMass got the best of the Bobcats in their first-ever meeting, 82-66, two years ago. The Bobcats have now won four straight games and they will move on and take on Bryant in a Northeast Conference battle this Saturday.

UMass has two more games on the road against George Mason on Thursday before traveling to Chestnut Hill to take on Boston College on Dec. 7. The Minutewomen return home to the Mullins Center on Dec. 9 when they take on Providence.

Michael Counos can be reached at mcounos@student.umass.edu and followed on Twitter @MDC_Counos.

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.

In the second half, UMass was never able to close the deficit as it shot 20-for-62 from the field and scored on just 4-of-20 3-point attempts. The RedHawks were led by Courtney Osborn with a game-high 25 points to go along with five assists. Hannah Robertson and Maggie Boyer both were in double-digit scoring figures as well, while Kristen Olowinski led the team with eight rebounds to go along with four steals and two blocked shots.

“We didn’t play defense the way we practice,” said UMass coach Sharon Dawley in a UMassAthletics.com post-game interview. “On a good day we play transition defense, on a good day we defend shooters a lot better and for some reason we kept getting stuck under screens and we don’t get stuck under screens.”

For UMass, Robinson led the way with 18 points and six boards. Also in double-figures was Jasmine Watson with 14 points and Emilie Teuscher with 10.

On Tuesday, the Minutewomen will try to get back on track against Holy Cross in their second consecutive game on the road.

UMass has been led by its post-game thus far in the season as Robinson and Watson lead the team in points. Robinson has 52 points in three games and has scored in double-figures in every contest, while Watson is tied for second on the team in points with 29 with guard Megan Zullo.

Zullo has been the threat from beyond the arc, shooting 50 percent from long range on 9-for-18 shooting. Watson, Robertson and redshirt sophomore Carolann Cloutier all have at least 23 rebounds, while Millie Niggeling has grabbed 11 off the bench. Cloutier also leads the team with four steals and 16 assists.

Holy Cross comes into Tuesday’s game with a 1-3 record and is coming off a 54-43 loss to Fordham. The Crusaders’ sole win this season came on Nov. 16 against Quinnipiac, 80-70. Holy Cross is currently 1-1 when playing at home.

The Crusaders spread the ball out evenly on the offensive end as five players have over 30 points already this season. Amy Lepley is leading the way with 47, followed closely behind by Meredith Ward (41) and Alex Smith (40). Smith has been the main distributor on offense as well as on the glass, with a team-high 18 assists and 22 rebounds.

The game gets underway at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in Worcester. UMass is trying to move to a .500 win percentage, something it was unable to do throughout the entire 2010-11 season.

Michael Counos can be reached at mcounos@student.umass.edu and followed on Twitter @MDC_Counos.

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.

The season has already been an improvement over last year as the Minutewomen have already won a game, something they failed to do last season until their seventh game of the season against Brown.

“This year we all have the mindset that we’re not taking losses for an answer anymore, we’re not just going to settle for average,” said Shakia Robinson in a UMassAthletics.com post-game interview.

Another piece to the puzzle for Dawley this season is the balance of her team. Last season, UMass relied heavily on shooting from beyond the arc. This year, Dawley’s squad has more balance inside the key.

“We have five post players this year to rotate into two spots so if we get into foul trouble at all we don’t have to panic,” said Dawley in a UMassAthletics.com interview. “I think the strong-post play will complement the 3-point shooting this season.”

The Minutewomen have five players listed at greater than six-feet tall in Robinson, Watson, redshirt freshman Millie Niggeling and freshmen Aisha Rodney and Kim Pierre-Louis.

In terms of shooting, Zullo is the biggest threat the Minutewomen have from 3-point range, making 70 3-pointers last season, good enough for second on the team behind now-graduate Cerie Mosgrove.

Despite the absence of Mosgrove, newcomer Carolann Cloutier has been a solid addition as Dawley employs a three guard set to compliment Zullo and senior guard Emilie Teuscher. In their first game, the trio combined for 27 points while the rest of the team accounted for 28.

However, the Minutewomen will need a better offensive outing from Watson down the road after she was held to zero points on seven shots.

Looking back to last weekend, UMass won its season opener on Sunday against Boston University due to a strong defensive effort. Dawley praised the strong defensive effort of her team, shutting down three of the Terrier’s perennial scorers. UMass held Chantell Alford, Mo Moran and Alex Young to just 9-for-42 shooting.

Robinson led the Minutewomen with 22 points and eight rebounds. Cloutier grabbed a team-high 10 boards and six assists while Megan Zullo scored 17 points, going 5-for-7 from beyond the arc.

The Blue Devils started their season with a 53-48 victory at home against Maine. Junior Jaclyn Babe scored 16 points in her debut with CCSU. The Blue Devils went into halftime with a nine-point league and never relinquished it in the second half. Kirsten Daamen scored nine points while freshman point guard Kaley Watras ran the offense with five assists.

Wednesday night’s game against the Blue Devils kicks off at 7 p.m. at the Mullins Center.

Michael Counos can be reached at mcounos@student.umass.edu and followed on Twitter @MDC_Counos.

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.

“I think this group of seniors is just very resilient, take everything in stride and just always keep competing and understand that nothing comes easy and they have to work for it,” said UMass coach Carla Tagliente.

Widdall is considered by many as the best goalie in Minutewomen program history. She has been the consistent starter for UMass since her freshman year in 2008, starting 76 of 79 games. She holds a number of honors at UMass, making the Atlantic 10 All-Conference First Team three years in a row, All-Academic Team the last two years and the Longstreth/NFHCA All-Northeast Region First Team the last three seasons. As a freshman she was named A-10 Co-Rookie of the Year and a Second Team All-American. As a junior, Widdall was named the A-10 Student Athlete of the Year and as well as Third Team All-American.

Widdall currently has 25 shutouts on 377 saves in her career. She holds a collegiate record of 47-30 including 15 straight wins against A-10 opponents. Widdall has averaged 1.37 goals against per game throughout her career and has a .777 save percentage. In 2009, she played with the Team USA Junior National Squad at the Junior World Cup in Boston.

“She has done such a great job throughout her career and has really left a great legacy and impacted this program in a positive way,” said Tagliente. “She epitomizes what a coach wants in a leader and she makes everyone around her better.”

At midfield, UMass will be losing Pancioccio, who has sported No. 20 throughout her career.

Pancioccio hails from Walpole, Mass., and has played consistently since her freshman year, in which she made 18 starts. Despite recording no points her freshman season, she made the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team.

As a sophomore she had three assists, as a junior eight assists and as a senior she has recorded three goals and two assists. In total, Pancioccio has amassed 19 points in her collegiate career, including two game-winning goals.

“Nikki is such a fiery competitor, she’s always involved and mixes it up and is always motivated and has the desire to win which really helps push the rest of the team,” said Tagliente.

The defensive squad is graduating two seniors in Cutry and Dietz. Cutry has 13 points in her career at UMass. As a freshman she played in five games, but saw an increased role her sophomore and junior year, playing in at least 20 games in both. As a sophomore she netted one goal and helped with two assists before adding two assists her junior year. This year, Cutry has a career-high seven points on two goals and three assists.

“Christine is kind of the quiet unsung hero,” said Tagliente. “She’s always steady and consistent in every game and practice and I think she is a really good role model.”

Dietz, from Lehighton, Penn. wears number 18. As a freshman she played in four games with her first career start coming against Quinnipiac on Aug. 31 2008. Dietz was sidelined her sophomore season due to injury, but returned her junior year playing in three games. This season she played against Saint Joseph’s in which UMass won, 7-0.

Friday’s game at Garber Field gets underway at 1 p.m. Fans are encouraged to attend to support not only the seniors but the entire team in their quest for a second-straight regular season A-10 conference title. UMass will finish out the regular season on Sunday against Providence before A-10 tournament begins.

Michael Counos can be reached at mcounos@student.umass.edu.

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.

UMass got on the board in the first half in the 15th minute with a goal from junior Kim Young. Young’s fourth goal of the season came off a penalty corner, when she corralled the ball and lifted it past Explorers goalie Lisa Shafer for the top-shelf score. Young was assisted by Nikki Panciocco and Christine Cutry.

A minute later, the Explorers charged back into the UMass circle and fired off a quality shot that senior captain Alesha Widdall turned away to sustain the lead. At intermission, the score remained 1-0 as the Minutewomen dominated the offensive play in the first half, outshooting La Salle 11-1 and holding the advantage in penalty corners at 4-0.

“While the score didn’t really show it, I felt that we had all the momentum in the first half but then they seemed to steal it back in the second half,” said UMass coach Carla Tagliente.

In the second half, the Explorers had a chance to tie the game in the 51st minute, but once again Widdall came up with the big save. The action was back-and-forth between the two teams when Renee Suter looked to double the UMass advantage as she fired off a shot in the 55th minute and then another off her own rebound. The shots, however, were rejected by Shafer.

Then, with 13 minutes remaining, Lindsay Bowman received the lead pass from Young and faked out the diving Shafer to leave her with the wide-open net to backhand her fourth goal of the season. The Minutewomen won the game 2-0 and fired off 23 shots. Widdall recorded six saves in her fourth shutout of the season while her counterpart Shafer had nine saves.

“I think the important thing was we played our brand of field hockey,” said Tagliente. “We were loose, we connected well and the big takeaway for this game was we played a full 70 minutes and were able to win.”

On Sunday, UMass hit the road to take on Temple who was also 4-0 in the A-10 at the time. The Minutewomen knew that this game could make or break their chance at the No. 1 seed in the A-10 tournament.

“Our confidence is pretty high right now, once A-10 play started we had a new mind-set and knew that we needed to play well to move on to the postseason,” said Widdall.

The game would prove to be intense as overtime was needed to settle the score. Panciocco scored six minutes, 53 minutes into extra time to give UMass the 2-1 win and sole possession of first place in the A-10.

UMass was rolling off the momentum of Molly MacDonnell’s game tying goal with just three minutes remaining in regulation. MacDonnell took a pass from Alexa Sikalis in the Temple circle to net her third goal of the season to force overtime. UMass dominated the overtime period, outshooting the Owls 6-0.

“I think we’re a lot more confident and playing better defense in conference play, and our midfielders and strikers are clearly playing with more confidence as they are connecting a lot more on the offensive end,” said Tagliente.

The Owls got off to a quick start with a goal from Bridget Settles in the 10th minute for her 16th goal of the season. Temple held a 14-7 shot advantage in the first half, but the Minutewomen responded in the second half with a 7-3 advantage. Widdall made five saves in the victory.

“We knew we were going to have to play for a consistent 70 minutes and we knew what was at stake and everyone was ready to step up and meet the challenge,” said Tagliente.

Only Richmond sits in the way of a second consecutive year of a perfect conference record. The Minutewomen host the Spiders (11-6, 3-1 A-10) on Senior Day this Friday. The win over the Owls assured UMass of at least a share of the regular season conference title. After hosting the Spiders, UMass wraps up the regular season against Providence on Sunday afternoon. Friday’s game at Garber field begins at 1 p.m.

Michael Counos can be reached at mcounos@student.umass.edu and followed on Twitter at MDC Counos.

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.

“We played with them for a full 100 minutes and it was a big confidence builder to play with them the whole time in overtime,” said UMass coach Carla Tagliente.

On Saturday, the Minutewomen opened their conference schedule against Lock Haven. UMass found themselves down early, when Kristi Shepps scored in the ninth minute of the game. The Minutewomen stayed composed and got it done in the second half, when junior forward Kara Charochak tied it in the 43rd minute with her first goal of the season. Junior forward Kate Heineman gave UMass the lead in the 62nd minute, scoring off a penalty corner.

“It was important for us to come out and play strong and send a message for the rest of the conference,” said Tagliente.

On Friday, UMass returns home to host Saint Joseph’s. After dropping their conference-opener to Temple on Oct. 7, the Hawks have won two straight against Georgetown and Villanova.

In their only meeting last season, the Minutewomen defeated the Hawks, 4-1, behind Thando Zono’s two goals. Widdall turned away six shots as UMass outshot the Hawks, 27-11.

The Minutewomen will have to keep a close eye on Ellen Rowe, who leads the team with seven goals in 12 games.

“It’s really important that we start off good against St. Joe’s and then continue that success into Sunday,” said Tagliente.

On Sunday, the Minutewomen hit the road to take on the Billikens, who  sit at 3-11. With just 17 goals in 14 games, the Billikens have struggled to score. Their opportunities are lacking as well, as opponents have outshot them, 302-93.  Lexie Lindblad leads the team in points and goals with four and four, respectively.

Last season, UMass blanked Saint Louis, 4-0, on Oct. 9. Alexa Sikalis and Kelly each had a goal in the game. The Minutewomen defense did not allow the Billikens get off a single shot, out-shooting them, 28-0.

Sunday’s game is slated to begin at 2 p.m.

“We’ve been fine-tuning some fundamentals and are looking to keep the momentum going through the rest of A-10 play,” said Tagliente.

UMass could use some help in the scoring column, as its 14 goals is last in the conference. Five different players have at least two goals.

Widdall is sporting a .756 save percentage to go along with two shutouts.

Friday’s game at Garber Field gets underway at 3:00 p.m. UMass currently sits in third place in the A-10 standings and has won 10-straight games against conference opponents. The Minutewomen are trying to win the conference for the second year in a row.

Michael Counos can be reached at mcounos@student.umass.edu.