Baltimore, MD - - -Mount St. Mary's (2-3, 1-0 NEC) converted seven of their eight free-throws in the last 24.8 seconds to break a 58-58 tie and defeat UMBC (2-4, 0-1 NEC), 65-60, in the Northeast Conference season-opener at UMBC RAC Arena.
With the score even at 58-58, Mount St. Mary's junior guard Adrienne Harris grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled with 24.8 seconds remaining. Harris was then awarded two more free-throws after UMBC head coach Phil Stern was hit with a technical foul. Harris converted three of the four attempts to give the Mount a 61-58 advantage, but UMBC senior guard Jessie Brown cut the lead to just one point after she hit a runner in the lane with 11.4 remaining. UMBC then fouled senior guard Ravilia Alexander, who calmly hit both of her free throws with 10.4 remaining to give the Mount a 63-60 lead. Retrievers' sophomore guard Christine Catalanotto had a good look on a three-point attempt from the left wing to try and tie the game in the closing seconds, but the attempt was off to the left. Mount junior forward Beth Foster added two more free-throws with 2.9 seconds for the games final points.
Trailing 41-33 with 14:43 remaining, UMBC went on a 10-1 run to take their first lead of the second half with 12:49 remaining. Catalanotto capped the run by hitting a three-point goal from the left corner. The Retrievers fell behind again and trailed 57-52 with 3:52 remaining, but scored the next six points to take their final lead at 58-57 with 1:43 left on a three-point play by Brown.
The Mount scored the first seven points of the second half to break a 24-24 halftime deadlock.
The Mount, who shot fifty-five percent in the second half finished the game at thirty-nine percent (20-for-51) for the game. UMBC shot forty-one percent (24-for-58) for the game, but were outscored 15-5 from the charity-stripe.
Mount junior guard Myriam Baccouche scored a team-high 20 points and was 6-for-14 from three-point range. Harris added 13 points and Foster contributed 12 points and 7 rebounds.
Brown led UMBC with 20 points and sophomore center Lara Seamon recorded her first double-double of the season with 16 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Senior forward Millette Green tied her career-high with 15 points and added 9 rebounds.
