2008 Woodie Awards
Vote Absentee
Gerardot's 20 off bench leads UM
Mike Connors, Collegian Staff
Issue date: 11/15/07 Section: Sports
The Massachusetts women's basketball team has won their first two games with last-second free throws, and UMass coach Marnie Dacko isn't complaining.
"We keep telling them to learn how to win and expect to win," she said. "There was never any doubt, and that's what I'm so proud of."
The Minutewomen used clutch play down the stretch to once again escape with a small margin of victory, this time a 69-66 win over in-state rival Boston College.
UMass will travel to Boston to take on Northeastern on Saturday at 2 p.m.
The final minute of the game provided frantic action that began with a Stephanie Gerardot jump shot that put the Minutewomen in front 65-64 with 51 seconds remaining. Eagles forward Rebecca Miles responded 14 seconds later with a layup.
BC made a costly mistake on the next possession. Alisha Tatham got open under the basket with 25 seconds left, and point guard Sakera Young found her for the easy layup.
After a BC timeout, Ayla Brown took a three pointer from the left corner but the ball rimmed out and was corralled by Pam Rosanio. She calmly knocked down both free throws to put UMass up 69-66.
Mickel Picco missed a jump shot as time expired, and the Minutewomen left with the three-point victory. In its two games this season, UMass's opponents have been down three with seconds remaining and still not attempted a 3-point shot.
Last game's hero was Rosanio; this time it was Stephanie Gerardot's turn. The junior guard came off the bench to score a team-high 20 points while going 8-of-10 from the floor.
"My teammates do the hard part of setting me up; I just knock down the open shot, which is the easy part," she said.
Gerardot did most of her damage in the second half. She connected on 3-of-6 3-pointers in the half, and 15 of her 20 points came in the second.
"She's a great, great shooter, and she always gets tense," Dacko said. "This is the way she shoots in practice everyday."
Dacko also credited the team for finding the hot hand, who happened to be Gerardot last night. She said the team sometimes fails to recognize that these players must continually be given the ball.
"We keep telling them to learn how to win and expect to win," she said. "There was never any doubt, and that's what I'm so proud of."
The Minutewomen used clutch play down the stretch to once again escape with a small margin of victory, this time a 69-66 win over in-state rival Boston College.
UMass will travel to Boston to take on Northeastern on Saturday at 2 p.m.
The final minute of the game provided frantic action that began with a Stephanie Gerardot jump shot that put the Minutewomen in front 65-64 with 51 seconds remaining. Eagles forward Rebecca Miles responded 14 seconds later with a layup.
BC made a costly mistake on the next possession. Alisha Tatham got open under the basket with 25 seconds left, and point guard Sakera Young found her for the easy layup.
After a BC timeout, Ayla Brown took a three pointer from the left corner but the ball rimmed out and was corralled by Pam Rosanio. She calmly knocked down both free throws to put UMass up 69-66.
Mickel Picco missed a jump shot as time expired, and the Minutewomen left with the three-point victory. In its two games this season, UMass's opponents have been down three with seconds remaining and still not attempted a 3-point shot.
Last game's hero was Rosanio; this time it was Stephanie Gerardot's turn. The junior guard came off the bench to score a team-high 20 points while going 8-of-10 from the floor.
"My teammates do the hard part of setting me up; I just knock down the open shot, which is the easy part," she said.
Gerardot did most of her damage in the second half. She connected on 3-of-6 3-pointers in the half, and 15 of her 20 points came in the second.
"She's a great, great shooter, and she always gets tense," Dacko said. "This is the way she shoots in practice everyday."
Dacko also credited the team for finding the hot hand, who happened to be Gerardot last night. She said the team sometimes fails to recognize that these players must continually be given the ball.
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