Minutewomen can't solve Spiders
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AMHERST - More consistent play is what the University of Massachusetts women's basketball team needs to compete successfully in the Atlantic 10.
That was evident in Saturday's 73-62 loss to Richmond, one of the conference's top teams, which last year lost in the A-10 championship game and advanced to the third round of the Women's National Invitational Tournament.
The Spiders (13-4, 2-0 A-10) had their way with the Minutewomen (7-11, 1-2) in the first half Saturday, using a full-court press that led to 10 turnovers and 12 points off breaks. And when Richmond was not converting easy layups, the Spiders got open looks at 3-pointers and hit seven-of-10 before halftime.
UMass, meanwhile, labored for much of the first half just to get into its offensive zone and often did not have time to execute the game plan of feeding the ball inside to freshman center Jasmine Watson.
That all added up to a 49-28 halftime lead for the Spiders.
A better Minutewoman team came out for the second half and outscored Richmond 33-25.
"The coaches told us to slow down and get the ball to the middle" to better handle the defensive pressure in the second half, said Watson, who for the second straight game set a career high with 19 points. She also had a team-high eight rebounds, including three on the offensive boards.
"I knew we were getting the ball inside," Watson added. "I wanted to get the guards more involved to help us play better offense."
Since Watson became a starter against Harvard on Jan. 6, she has averaged 14.5 points in the last four games.
Reflecting on her first collegiate season, the 6-foot-3 Watson from South Bend, Ind., said, "I think I've just learned to be more patient, play harder and use my height and quickness to my advantage."
UMass took its only lead at 3-2 on a 3-pointer by Stephanie Lawrence, her only points of the game. Richmond took its first double-digit lead at 16-4 after six minutes, and was in control for most of the rest of the half.
The Minutewomen mounted their only threat in the final five minutes before the break, when a layup by Watson sandwiched between 3-pointers by Kim Benton (six points) and Megan Zullo (11 points) reduced the Spiders' lead to 34-27.
But a 14-2 run to close the half - punctuated by a 3-pointer by Rachael Bilney (eight points) at the buzzer - gave UMass a challenge it could not overcome despite its better play in the second half.
Three consecutive layups by Watson got the Minutewomen within 56-45 with 13:47 to play, but that was as close as they would get.
Richmond was led by Brittani Shells who scored 22 points on 10-of-16 shooting.
Redshirt junior guard Kara Powell of Agawam had six points and six assists for the Spiders, and she had family and friends among the 573 fans in attendance.
The Minutewomen were coming off a 62-59 overtime win at Saint Louis on Wednesday when they played without leading scorer Kristina Danella (14.2 points per game) who suffered a high ankle sprain in practice Tuesday. Danella returned Saturday, and scored 12 points in 21 minutes off the bench.
Redshirt junior Zullo, a transfer from North Carolina State, helped jump-start the UMass offense Saturday, with a career-high seven assists to go with three steals and three 3-pointers.
"My role is to come off the bench and give us a spark by looking for my shot and feeding the post players inside," Zullo said. "My defense is starting to improve."
Coach Marnie Dacko said she liked much of what she saw in Saturday's second half, especially since she's spent much of the season working new players into a lineup that has just two seniors - guards benton and Diatiema Hill.
"Jasmine is coming into her own," Dacko said, "She and (sophomore center) Nicole Jones are great defenders."
Added Dacko, "If we get consistency out of all our players, we'll be a good team."
The Minutewomen are at Duquesne at 7 p.m. Wednesday, and return home to play George Washington at 11:45 a.m. Jan. 27 at the Mullins Center.
Gazette sports editor Stanley Moulton can be reached at smoulton@gazettenet.com.
