The Minutewomen were down to six healthy players in January, but still have shown some progress under second-year coach Sharon Dawley.
Freshman Emily "Tex" Mital is developing into a solid defensive guard who can play all 40 minutes for the UMass women's basketball team.
photo by J. Anthony Roberts
But an incredible amount of injuries, many season-ending, is the reason UMass has just eight wins this season, only one more than the start of the rebuilding campaign of a year ago.
“The day we played Saint Joe’s, we had six healthy people who could play that day,” recalled Dawley of the 86-58 loss Jan. 7 at the Mullins Center. “We’ve had two concussions, an MCL, Mono, and now an ACL and an MCL.
"I can’t remember some of them, oh yeah Meg’s (Zullo) eye. Meg’s infection, then Meg’s shin, Em’s (Teuscher) eye, and Em’s thumb, there’s been a lot. I’m amaze that we had 12, and were down to six, but luckily we had six.”
One devastating injury was the latest one to freshman point guard Carolann Cloutier, an ACL that put her out for the season and forced Zullo, a senior, into the point.
“We hope the surgery will be soon, but they have to wait until things calm down a bit, but hopefully she’ll be on the floor in November,” Dawley said. There are so many things that go into that. Will she be ready for surgery soon? Will the rehab go without hitch?
Another promising Dawley recruit is Aisha Rodney, a strong defending forward. But she’s the one with Mono after missing a month with a concussion.
UMass (8-20) is coming off two straight home wins over George Washington and Rhode Island. And despite it all, if it can win Sunday or Fordham loses its finale, then at least a playoff spot was made.
Dawley, not used to losing in her terrific coach career highlighted by her tremendous success at Vermont, says she’s particularly happy about one area this season.
“I’m impressed with their resiliency, we lose a player, and they don’t get down. We lose a game, they don’t get down. And I think sometimes you’ve got to put on an act a bit because if one person gets down, it’s contagious, and it will go through the whole team. With all the injuries, and losses, I’m pleased and surprised at how positive the girls are.”
One of those is junior Jasmine Watson, who was a Marnie Dacko recruit.
“I think it’s been really hard, but we just know it’s going to lead to something better,” Watson said after the recent win over George Washington. “Even after we lose, we go back to the gym with the mentality that we’re going to win the next game. We don’t finish a drill in practice until we get it right, and that just carries over to games. We don’t have a quit mentality because our coaches don’t have a quit mentality.”
Dawley is enthusiastic about one of this years' newcomers – freshman Emily Mital, a tireless defensive specialist from Frisco, Texas.
“I think Tex will come back as an upper classmen,” Dawley said. “This is great for her to be thrown in the fire. She didn’t come off the floor once (against GW). She’s a kid who can go on forever.”
Another freshman that has shown promise is Millie Niggeling, however that was another player finishing with an injury.
“Millie’s shoulder, that’s another one,” Dawley remembered. “Millie will also have surgery as soon as possible. Even though Millie’s playing hurt right now, these minutes will go a long way next year when she’s healthy."
One problem area has been turnovers in the post with half of the UMass turnovers coming from the post players, and that’s something that has to be worked on in the off-season through passing and footwork.
Dawley said that she has four recruits “ready to go” for next year, and that there’s “a good chance we’ll have five., and an outside possibility, we’ll have six.”