Dec. 21, 2011
Box Score | Photo Gallery 1 
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LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. - Siena played its second straight game decided by a razor thin margin. Unfortunately, the Saints came up just short once again. UMass placed four players in double figures, fending off the Saints 58-53 in front of a crowd of 1,754 at the Alumni Recreation Center.
The crowd was the largest to see a women's basketball game at the ARC in nearly six years since the Saints' (1-7) drew 2,318 in a game vs. Marist on Feb. 3, 2006.
The game marked the Saints' second annual "Kids' Day" game sponsored by Blue Shield of Northeastern New York. In total, children from 10 Capital Region area schools attended the game as part of Siena Men's and Women's Basketball's Adopt-A-School program.
Although the tightly contested game featured 10 ties and 12 lead changes, the partisan crowd could not rally the Saints to a victory as Siena dropped its fifth straight.
The Saints got off to a great start, ending the first half on a 13-4 run to take a 23-17 lead into the break. Siena forced 11 UMass (4-8) turnovers in the half which led to nine points.
Freshman and Loudonville native Tehresa Coles played a big part in the run on both ends of the court in her first career start. She would finish with career-highs of 11 points, six rebounds and four steals while adding three assists.
In the second half things opened up on the offensive end. The Minutewomen eclipsed their first half scoring total in the first six minutes, reeling off 18 points. UMass nailed threes on each of their first three possessions of the half and shot 5-8 from deep overall in the stanza.
UMass shot 7-14 (50%) for the game from three and 17-20 (85%) from the foul line, offsetting at 32.7% shooting performance.
Siena shot 43.5% in the second half to match UMass' scoring output and trailed by just three with 8.7 seconds remaining when the Saints got a golden opportunity.
Following the inbounds, UMass turned the ball over near midcourt, but precious time ran off the clock. Siena would not corral possession until 0.6 seconds remaining called timeout. However, the Saints did not have any timeouts left and were issued a technical foul, ending any comeback hopes.
Megan Zullo and Emilie Teuscher posted 14 points apiece in leading UMass to the program's 500th all-time win. Jasmine Watson added a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds as the Minutewomen won their third straight.
Making her second career start, sophomore Kate Zarotney led the Saints in scoring. She posted a career-high with 14 points while adding six rebounds and three steals. Cristina Centeno and Maja Gerlyng also reached double figures with 10 points apiece.
UMass' shut down Siena's top scoring threat and the MAAC's second leading scorer Lily Grenci. She was held without a field goal and scored just one point although she pulled down nine rebounds.
Siena closes out non-conference play next Thursday, Dec. 29 when they travel to Maine for a 6 p.m. tip.
