After facing the stingiest defense in the Atlantic 10 last Monday against Rhode Island, the Massachusetts women’s basketball team will most likely feel a sense of relief when Dayton enters the William D. Mullins Center tonight for a 7 p.m. tip off.
All year the Minutewomen have struggled to score, and against URI that offensive ineptitude came to the forefront, as they totaled only 41 points in the loss.
It was a game that typified the UMass (5-14, 3-5 Atlantic 10) season, in which stellar defense and fantastic rebounding were not enough to overcome 26 turnovers, 29 percent shooting from the field and a mediocre day from the line (63 percent).
And because a win would have evened the Maroon and White’s conference record, last Monday’s loss became especially heartbreaking.
“I don’t feel some of our players got involved as much as they should have,” said UMass center Jen Butler, who leads the team in both scoring (14.0) and rebounding (11.3). “We tried to penetrate and hit open shots, but it just wasn’t working.”
Now, the Minutewomen will once again to try to break through their offensive woes against a Flyers team that is statistically toward the bottom of the conference defensively.
In order to do this the guards must assume a bigger role in the offense, especially after the combination of Katie Nelson, Monique Govan, Ebony Pegues and Cleo Foster could only muster five points between them in 88 minutes of play against the Rams.
“We had good looks at the basket,” said a distraught Maroon and White Head Coach Joanie O’Brien after Monday’s contest. “But the word that consistently comes back is composure.
“We are not going to beat anyone scoring 41 points, and the fact that we were in the game was almost ridiculous,” the eleventh year coach added.
Although UMass should have an easier time scoring against Dayton, it will also have a more difficult time stopping the potent Flyer attack. Four players average double figures for coach Jaci Clark, as opposed to only one for the Minutewomen (Butler).
Stephanie Miller leads Dayton in scoring with a 13.8 points per game average, while Sarah Allen (12.8 ppg), Kristy Hineline (11.5 ppg) and Chrissy Donovan (10.5 ppg) are all important spokes in the Flyer offensive wheel. Heather Hasselman is also a force down low, averaging 9.4 ppg to go along with 8.2 rebounds per game.
In contrast, the Maroon and White’s second leading scorer, Amber Sneed, is only averaging 8.2 ppg, while Nelson is close behind at 7.7 ppg.
Besides shooting, another area the Minutewomen need work in is their second half performances. Thus far on the year, they are actually outscoring their opposition in the first half (494-490), but have been consistently outplayed throughout the second frame (548-477). This inability to come through in crunch time has cost UMass dearly, as it is a mere 1-5 in games decided by five points or less.
However, a few wins in-conference could propel the Maroon and White in the right direction.
“All we are looking at now is the A-10,” said Butler after the URI game. “It was kind of disappointing we lost this one because we wanted to be even [in conference].”
Dayton comes into today’s game with an 8-11 (5-3 A-10) record, which puts them in second place in the western division behind only George Washington.
