Baltimore, Md. - The UMBC Retrievers women's basketball team is set to play host to the University of Maine on Saturday night at UMBC RAC Arena. Tip-off is slated for a 7 p.m. start as last year's regular season conference champions make their first appearance ever at UMBC.
RETRIEVER UPDATE: The Retrievers allowed a first half deficit prove to be the difference against New Hampshire as the Retrievers, who played the Wildcats even in the second half, could not recover from a 29-19 Wildcat advantage at the end of the first half, falling to UNH 65-54. The Retrievers got an 11-point effort from Maria Brown and Courtney Doughman. Doughman came off the bench to spark the Retrievers offense, scoring eight points in the first half. Anastasia Goncharova and Erin Voss scored eight points each while Sharri Rohde recorded six points and six rebounds. The Retrievers shot 48.3 percent from the field in the second half and 71.4 percent from three-point range.
BLACK BEAR UPDATE: The Maine Black Bears have continued their regular season dominance in the America East Conference starting 5-0 in league play this year after finishing 16-0 in the AE at the end of the regular season last year. Black Bears recently defeated Boston U., 73-65, behind 26 points from Julie Veilleux. Heather Ernest scored 16 points and Melissa Heon added 13 to give the Black Bears three players in double digits. Ernest leads the Black Bears on the season with 16.9 ppg and 9.1 rpg and Heon is second on the team at 11.6 ppg. The Black Bears, who were a unanimous preseason pick to win the conference this year, currently rank third in the AE in scoring at 65.5 ppg.
Who's Up Next: The Retrievers hit the road again as they travel to Binghamton to face the Bearcats on Wednesday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m.
All-time Series vs. Maine: This will be the first meeting between UMBC and the Black Bears. Prior to UMBC's inception into the America East the Retrievers had only played two current conference schools in Boston U. and Hartford.
There's No Place Like Home...After being on the road for three-three straight and five-of-seven, the Retrievers are back home for with a stretch of two games at the RAC Arena that started against New Hampshire. The Retrievers now have a stretch of playing six out of eight games at home.
Retrievers Vs. Maine Match-up Has Three-point Flavor...In conference play the Maine Black Bears and UMBC Retrievers are one and two, respectively, in three-point field goal percentage. The Black Bears in conference are averaging .440 (33-75) while the Retrievers are shooting .431 (44-102). The Retrievers lead the league in conference play with 8.80 three-point baskets per game.
Goncharova Heating Up In Conference Play...Despite being cooled down by the Wildcats and limited to eight points, Anastasia Goncharova has been on fire since starting conference play, shooting 48.1 percent from the field and averaging 13.8 ppg. Goncharova finished the team's non-conference slate averaging 9.4 ppg. Goncharova scored 18 points in the Retrievers' league opener against Stony Brook, added 11 against Hartford and scored 16 in games against Boston U. and Northeastern.
Retrievers Shoot To The Top Of Record Charts...The Retrievers produced stellar numbers against Northeastern last week as they set a number of new team single-game marks. The Retrievers 14 three-point baskets made against Northeastern ties for second in the America East record books and is a UMBC record. In addition, the Retrievers set school records for field goal percentage at 67.4 percent (31-of-46) and three-point field goal percentage at 63.6 (14-of-22).
Out Of The Box...The Retrievers, who have had trouble getting out of the box and not shot better than 50 percent from the floor in a half, jumped out on Northeastern by going 9-of-9 from the field to start the game. The Retrievers in the half shot 70.0 percent on 14-of-20. The Retrievers in the second half shot 65.4 percent to set a new school single-game mark of 67.4 percent. The Retrievers were also hot from outside the arc, shooting 88.9 percent on 8-of-9 from three-point land in the first half.
Freshman Luttrell Breaks Single-Game Mark, Streak Ends At Six Consecutive...Retriever freshman Heather Luttrell broke UMBC's single-game mark for three-point percentage by going 5-of-5 from behind the arc against Northeastern. Luttrell continued her streak into the next game against New Hampshire making her first trey before her streak was broken with a missed three-point attempt in the remaining seconds of the first stanza. Luttrell scored a career-high 15 points in the game against NU. Luttrell started off the game going 3-of-3 in the first half and tacked on two more in the second. Luttrell was 5-of-7 from the field on the day and also had four assists and three steals. Against NHU, Luttrell was just 1-of-2 from the field with three points.
All Five Starters Hit Double Digits...Five Retrievers scored double-digits against Northeastern as four players on the team recorded career-highs in the game. Maria Brown led the team with 19 points, followed by Anastasia Goncharova with 16, Heather Luttrell with 15, and Tyecia Powell and Sharri Rohde with 11 each. Brown, Luttrell, Powell and Erin Voss all had career-high nights in the scoring column. The Retrievers scored 78 points in the game a team-high this season the highest total since tallying 82 in a triple overtime game against Robert Morris last year. The last time the Retrievers scored 78 or more points in a regulation game was against Fairleigh Dickinson on Feb. 24, 2001 when the Retrievers won 79-67.
Lending A Helping Hand...Maria Brown and Sharri Rohde have been dishing out the goods to their teammates as of late. Since entering conference play, Rohde has been averaging 3.8 apg and Brown 3.2. Brown had a career-high night with six assists in the Northeastern game while Rohde in that same game handed out five helpers. Brown leads the team with 37 assists on the year.
Rookies Tally Career Nights...The combination of Sharri Rohde and Courtney Doughman produced 29 points as each player recorded a career night against the Loyola Greyhounds. Rohde hit 5-of-9 shots from the field and 3-of-6 three-pointers en route to a game-high 17 points. Rohde was 4-of-4 from the charity stripe and also recorded a block, two steals and four assists. Doughman produced off the bench draining four treys to bolster the UMBC offense with 12 points in the game.
Rhode Hitting The Boards...Freshman Sharri Rohde is emerging on the inside for the Retrievers as the rookie forward recorded her first double-digit night on the boards with 10 rebounds against Radford. Rohde also rejected two shots in the game as she has seven blocks on the year and five in course of three games. Rohde leads the team in rebounding at 5.8 per game.
Retrievers Scoring On The Rise...After averaging 39.4 ppg in the first seven contests, the Retrievers' scoring has started to rise averaging 56.0 points per game since starting conference play. UMBC had their best output of the season against Northeastern with 78 points.
Rookies Coming To Play…The freshman class this season has put together solid numbers for the Retrievers in their debut, averaging 34.6 percent of the Retrievers' total scoring. Sharri Rohde, who leads the team in rebounding average at 5.8 rpg, is averaging a team fourth best 6.8 ppg, including a 17-point night against Loyola. Heather Luttrell posted a career-high 15 points against Northeastern going 5-of-5 from three-point range and Courtney Doughman had a career-high night with 12 points off the bench with four treys against Loyola. Brittnie Hughes, after opening the season with an injury, saw her first action against Radford and netted her first collegiate points against Loyola with four points.
Santos Cashing In At Charity Stripe...Mariana Santos has been spectacular at the free throw line this season, hitting 27-of-28 attempts for a 96.4 free throw percentage. Against Hartford, Santos was a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line as she scored 16 points off the bench for the Retrievers. Santos ranks first in the conference standings with 9-of-9 free throws made in three games for a perfect 100 percent.
Getting The Nod…Head Coach Phil Stern has started freshman Sharri Rohde in all of the team's games thus far, making her and teammate Maria Brown the only two to start every game. Fellow freshman Heather Luttrell broke into the starting lineup for the first time at UNC and against Maryland Courtney Doughman got the start as three rookies opened the game on the floor for UMBC.
From Down Town…The Retrievers in the latest NCAA statistics (games as of Jan. 19) rank 13th in the country in three-point field goals per game with an average of 7.2. The Retrievers have been hot from behind the arc over the last three games, shooting 50.0 percent from three-point range. The Retrievers are 29-of-58 on three-point attempts during the last three games, including their game against Northeastern where the Retrievers knocked down 14 treys, five of them from Heather Luttrell. Anastasia Goncharova has the Retrievers' most three-point buckets with 33 on the year. As a team the Retrievers are shooting 32.9 percent from three-point range.
Hitting The Airwaves…UMBC will be featured on the airwaves a couple times this season. The Retrievers made a TV appearance on Saturday, Jan. 10 when they played Hartford at 12 p.m. on Comcast Sportsnet. WJFK-AM, THE JOCK will broadcast the first end of a men and women's doubleheader on Wed., Feb. 4 as veteran broadcasters Gary Stein and Paul Mittermeier will handle the play-by-play and analyst duties respectively. The Retrievers' women's hoops team can also be caught on Teamline on six different occasions. Teamline can be accessed through the basketball home page and is a free service provided by UMBC Athletics.
Stern Carries Color Commentary...Head coach Phil Stern carried the color commentary at the UMBC men's basketball game against Princeton University back on Dec. 2 at UMBC RAC Arena. Stern joined play-by-play man Gary Stein on the airwaves. Stern is a master of the famed Princeton-style offense and gave substantial in depth insight into the system of play during WJFK's broadcast.
Keep Me In Coach...Head coach Phil Stern has stuck with some of his players for all 40 minutes on a number of occasions including keeping three players in the entire game against Northeastern. Sharri Rohde, Anastasia Goncharova and Maria Brown all played 40 minutes as the Retrievers set a new record for single-game field goal percentage against the Huskies. Brown logged a second 40-minute game in the Retrievers next outing against New Hampshire.
Retrievers In The America East Charts...At the start of the week, freshman Sharri Rohde's rebounding has her listed in conference charts, ranking eighth in defensive rebounds with 4.85 per game and 12th in overall rebounding at 5.8 per game. Anastasia Goncharova ranks third in three-point percentage at .304 and third in three-point field goals made at 2.38 per game. Goncharova also ranks 13th in scoring at 11.2 ppg.
Brown Snags Career-High...Sophomore guard Maria Brown stole a career-high six balls versus American earlier this season. Brown's six steals were a part of her big defensive effort as she rejected two shots as well. Brown has six blocks on the season and leads the team with 16 steals.
No Charity Allowed...In the latest NCAA statistics release (games thru Jan. 19), UMBC ranked second in the country in fouls per game at 12.6. UMBC finished fifth in the nation last year in fouls per game at 13.5.
Phil Stern Era Moves Into Second Season…Head coach Phil Stern has begun the second season in his tenure at the helm of the Retriever women's hoops program. Stern in his first season took the Retrievers to the conference title game for the first-time ever and posted a 14-16 record. Stern, known to revitalize struggling programs, continues to build for the future, bringing in six newcomers this year and signing three to National Letters of Intent for the 2004-05 campaign.
Retrievers New Beast In The America East…The Retrievers will make their first appearance in the America East this season as UMBC moves into the conference with all its 20-intercollegiate sports. Prior to this year, UMBC spent five seasons in the Northeast Conference and six in the Big South Conference. At the end of last season, the America East had a Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) of 23 compared to 31 held by the NEC (second lowest). The America East's current RPI for this season is 16 in the country.
Starting From Scratch…With the departure of all-five starters from last year's squad, Phil Stern will be looking for players to step up into the starting role this year. Out of the six returning players, the Retrievers have a total of 26 starts combined prior to the start of the 2003-04 campaign, an average of 4.33 starts per player. Matea Pender returns with the most total starts after earning the nod in 18 games her freshman year in 2001-02 before sitting out last season with a knee injury. Anastasia Goncharova has the most starts under head coach Phil Stern with four last year in 27 games played.
Going Global…The Retrievers' 10-player roster contains three international players. The team's lone senior Mariana Santos is from Brazil while sophomore Matea Pender is a native of Croatia and junior Anastasia Goncharova is from Russia. In addition to players from the around the world, the majority of UMBC's squad is from outside the state lines. Maria Brown (Frederick, Md.) and Tyecia Powell (Baltimore, Md.) are the Retrievers' women's hoops only Maryland natives.
UMBC Picked 10th in Preseason Conference Poll…UMBC was picked to finish in last place in the preseason conference polled release by the America East Conference. Maine was a unanimous pick for the top spot receiving nine first place votes. Boston University was selected second followed by Vermont. UMBC, who is entering their first season in the AEC, did not place anyone on the preseason all-conference team.
Retrievers Ink Three For 2004-05…UMBC head women's basketball coach Phil Stern announced the signings of three student-athletes to National Letters of Intent to attend UMBC for the 2004-05 academic year. The list includes Indiana natives Kristin Drabyn (Avon, Ind./Avon) and Jennifer Ferguson (Fremont, Ind./Fremont) along with local talent Morgan Hatten (Potomac, Md./Winston Churchill).
