The Massachusetts women’s basketball team earned another berth in the Atlantic 10 Tournament followed by another first round exit.
On Friday, the Minutewomen were knocked out of the first round in the A-10 Tournament in Philadelphia, losing to Dayton, 57-51. It was just two weeks ago that UMass (13-19) upset Dayton at home, 56-46.
Senior forward Kate Mills scored 17 points and grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds in her last game wearing a UMass uniform. UMass coach Marnie Dacko is losing four seniors from the 2007-08 squad, which includes starting forward Pam Rosanio, who scored 11 points and forwards Alisha Tatham and Whitney McDonald.
“We played all outside tonight, living and dying by each shot, and it hurt us. I feel for my seniors,” Dacko said at the post game press conference. “They’ve certainly been working hard for four years, and I applaud them for their efforts.”
Senior forward Nikki Oakland led the way for Dayton with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Oakland scored 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the second half. Oakland struggled against the Minutewomen two weeks ago, only scoring five points.
“[Kate Mills] is a great player,” Oakland said. “You cannot take that away from her; and every time we play against each other, I feel like it’s a battle.”
The Minutewomen kept the game close in the first half as they started with an 11-8 lead. Midway through the first half, the Minutewomen saw a glimpse of their future with freshman forward Stephanie Lawrence and freshman guard Cerie Mosgrove seeing action during pivotal points in the first half.
With UMass trailing, 13-11, Lawrence knocked down a jumper with the assist from Mosgrove. On the next possession, Mosgrove found Mills for a jumper. With another defensive stop, the Minutewomen looked to push the lead. Tatham missed on her attempt, but Mills gathered the rebound and found Mosgrove behind the 3-point line. Mosgrove didn’t pass this time as she nailed it to give the Minutewomen their largest lead of the game, 18-13.
Dayton called a timeout and took back the momentum. On its first possession, sophomore forward Kendel Ross hit a jumper before freshman forward Kristin Daugherty stole the ball from Mills for a layup to cut the lead to 18-17.
Freshman forward Teya Wright scored a layup to give the Minutewomen a 20-17 lead; but on the defensive end, Wright picked up her second foul of the half and went to the bench early. The rest of the first half went back and forth and saw one tie and five lead changes.
Despite shooting 31.3 percent from the field and hitting 1-of-12 from 3-point territory, Dayton held a one-point lead to end the half, 27-26. The Minutewomen shot 40 percent in the first half. The Flyers capitalized at the free throw line, hitting 6-of-8, while the Minutewomen only went to the line once.
The Flyers started the second half on a 6-0 run and held the Minutewomen scoreless for the first three minutes. With 15:10 to go in the game, Wright cut the lead to six with a jumper. With the score, 36-30, Dayton maintained its six-point lead over the next five minutes.
With 6:53 remaining, Mills hit Mosgrove for a lay up to inch closer at, 45-41, it was as close as UMass would get. The Minutewomen had no answer for Oakland, who nailed a 3-point basket on the next possession. After a miss from Mills, Oakland put the game out of reach with another basket, giving Dayton a 50-41 lead with 6:01 left.
“We’ve had a lot of time with UMass, I give a lot of credit to our women,” Dayton coach Jim Jabir said. “We were much more aggressive and better on the boards. It was a game that we really needed.”
With 3:22 left, Mosgrove stole the ball, and Rosanio scored a layup out of a time out to make it a two-possession game, 54-48. On the next possession, Young stole the ball from Oakland. On the offensive end, Mills missed a jumper, but Rosanio grabbed the offensive rebound and hit Tatham, who then missed a 3-pointer. The Minutewomen were forced to foul, and the Flyers closed the game out on the free throw line.
Game notes
Despite being a smaller team, Dayton outscored UMass in the paint, 32-24
