It isn't saying much that this will be one of the toughest weekends of the season for the Massachusetts women's basketball team when they've only played one exhibition game so far.
However, the Minutewomen will face a National Invitational Tournament participant in Vermont Friday night before they return to Amherst for their home-opener against Manhattan.
Guard Pam Rosanio scored a career-high 25 points to lead UMass to a 69-68 victory last season against the Catamounts. Forward Kate Mills scored 12 points in the game with two blocks and two steals.
Having lost those two players to graduation, UMass coach Marnie Dacko will introduce a different starting-five against UVM, who returns all but three players.
Vermont is led by junior guard Courtnay Pilypaitis, a player who often plays at the power forward position because of her six-foot-one-inch frame. In last year's game against the Minutewomen, Pilypaitis dropped 12 points and seven rebounds.
The Catamounts play a four-out-one-in offense, which focuses on the center position in the paint, while the forwards and guards work the ball around the perimeter.
"It's a great basketball environment," Dacko said of the opportunity to play the Catamounts in Vermont. "It'll be a great test just to see where we're at [in terms of progress]."
Playing a Catamount team that made the National Invitation Tournament last season will bring invaluable experience to a young UMass team looking to improve upon last season's sixth-place finish in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Officials from the A-10 tabbed the Minutewomen to finish 12th in the conference this season.
UMass has a daunting task ahead of it to defeat UVM. Even though the Minutewomen beat the Bishop's Gaiters last week, Dacko hopes the team won't lose focus against Vermont.
"We really have to defend strong on the ball because we don't want to give a lot of help off the ball," Dacko said. "I think that's a concern with all of their players. I think this is a team that executes 100 times better than Bishop's [University]. They're a better team from top to bottom. This is a team that I'd rather we face now so I can see where we're at."
After its stop in Burlington, the Maroon and White return home for its home-opener at the Mullins Center to face the Lady Jaspers.
Manhattan finished last season with a final record of 15-15, 6-7 in road games.
The Lady Jaspers have five freshmen and nine underclassmen on the team overall. They're picked to finish 10th in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, a league similar to the A-10 in relation to the rest of the women's basketball conferences in the country.
Manhattan is coming off a win against Saint Rose with a final score of 75-48. Junior guard Michelle Pacheco was the game's high-scorer, finishing with 19 points, seven assists and five steals. Pacheco is one of the only returning top players on the team besides senior guard Annie McIntyre, who had 17 points and three steals in the contest.
Rebounding is equally as suspect for the Lady Jaspers. In their last game, five-foot-eight guard Alyssa Harrington had the most boards, with seven. The Manhattan players over five-foot-11 grabbed a total of five rebounds.
After going 6-12 in the UMass exhibition game against the Gators, sophomore guard Cerie Mosgrove made a strong case to keep her starting spot for the Minutewomen. Alongside senior Captain Stefanie Gerardot, the UMass backcourt will continue to utilize the new dribble-drive offense that Dacko will use this season with her seemingly speedier team.
The Mullins Center will be a welcomed change from Burlington for the Minutewomen. Last season, UMass had a home record of 11-1 against non-conference teams.
"We like playing at home," said Dacko. "The Mullins Center's been good to us and I think we're going to get more fans to come out and see us."
Mike Gillmeister can be reached at mgillmei@student.umass.edu.
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