The UMBC Retrievers' women's basketball will host Binghamton on Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. in UMBC RAC Arena. The Retrievers are down to their last four America East regular season games of the season with only two contests left at home starting with the Bearcats Wednesday night.
RETRIEVER UPDATE: The Retrievers two game win streak game to an end against conference leader Maine last Sunday as the Black Bears shot 52.5 percent from the field in the second half and 60.0 percent from three-point range to distance themselves from the Retrievers and take the 61-35 victory. The Retrievers, who trailed 22-17 at halftime, took a season low nine three-point attempts and shot an identical 7-for-17 in both halves for 41.2 percent in the game. Maria Brown tallied her third consecutive double-digit performance with 12 points in the game. Sharri Rohde grabbed a game-high seven rebounds and added six points.
BEARCAT UPDATE: Binghamton's senior point guard Kate Townley tied a career-high with 20 points, leading the Bearcats to a 71-64 win over Stony Brook in their latest outing. The Bearcats have won three consecutive games heading into the game versus the Retrievers. Rachel Laws leads the Bearcats with 14.4 ppg and 7.0 rpg. The Bearcats have clinched at least the No. 6 seed in the AE Tournament and avoid 7-10 seeded games on Wednesday, March 10. The Bearcats can finish as high as the No. 2 seed depending on the outcome of the final two weeks in the season.
Who's Up Next: The Retrievers host Senior Night at UMBC RAC Arena on Saturday, February 28 at 7 p.m. UMBC's lone senior Mariana Santos will be honored prior to the start of the Retrievers' home finale against Hartford.
All-time Series vs. Binghamton: UMBC and Binghamton met for the first time ever in their earlier season league match-up as the Bearcats defeated the Retrievers 60-45.
Round Two...In the first meeting this season between UMBC and Binghamton, the Retrievers saw the Bearcats pull away on two late treys to end the first half and take a 34-25 lead into the break. In the second half the Bearcats countered every Retriever move to decrease the deficit and extended their lead to double-digits on free throws as the Bearcats won 61-48. The Retrievers placed three players in double figures with Maria Brown leading the way with 16 points. Anastasia Goncharova tallied 11 points and Tyecia Powell chipped in 10 points.
Brown Leads Retrievers To Win Column...Maria Brown has been outstanding in games won this season, shooting 72.2 percent from the field on 13-of-18 and averaging 14.7 ppg. Brown in Retriever wins is 12-of-12 from the charity stripe, a majority of which sealed wins for the Retrievers in the closing minutes. Brown is shooting an impressive 75.0 percent (6-of-8) from three-point range in wins and is averaging 5.0 rpg and 3.33 apg.
Brown Moving Up Scoring Charts...Sophomore Maria Brown has made strides moving up the conference scoring charts in league games, averaging 11.7 ppg for 11th place in AE standings. Brown in the past three games is averaging 15.0 ppg, shooting 66.7 percent from the field. Brown in conference games is shooting 53.3 percent from the field and 47.5 percent from three-point range. Brown is 31-of-36 on free throw attempts (86.1 percent) in league games and currently has a three-game double-digit scoring streak.
UMBC Goes To The Three Ball In Win...The Retrievers utilized the trey in the second half of their 48-47 win over New Hampshire as seven of their nine made field goals in the second stanza were from behind the arc. The Retrievers hit 50.0 percent of their trey attempts in the second half and was led by Maria Brown who connected on all four of her attempts in the game.
From Down Town…The Retrievers in the latest NCAA statistics (games as of Feb. 22) rank 13th in the country in three-point field goals per game with an average of 7.3. Anastasia Goncharova ranks 43rd on the charts in 3-pt field goals made, averaging 2.4 per game.
No Charity Allowed...In the latest NCAA statistics release (games as of Feb. 22), UMBC ranked second in the country in fouls per game at 13.2. UMBC finished fifth in the nation last year in fouls per game at 13.5.
Retrievers Top Shooting Team In League Play...As of games through 2/22 the Retrievers lead the conference in field-goal percentage during league play. The Retrievers as a squad are shooting 43.8 percent from the floor, going 263-601.
Retrievers Lead Conference In Treys...The Retrievers lead the America East (through games 22) in made three-point field goals averaging 7.35 per game. The Retrievers are even stronger from outside the arc in league play, averaging 7.93 three-point baskets per game. The Retrievers rank second in three-point percentage in conference games, shooting 39.8 percent, and third overall at 34.7.
Retrievers Seal Win At The Line...The Retrievers sealed their second win much like the first making 13-of-16 free throws in the final six minutes to sink NU, 61-51. Maria Brown was 6-of-6 from the charity stripe and Sharri Rohde and Courtney Doughman were each 3-of-4. Earlier this season Brown sank 6-of-6 free throws and Doughman went 2-of-2 in the final minute to seal the Retriever victory over Vermont. UMBC shot 92.3 percent at the charity stripe going 12-of-13 from the line in that game.
Doughman Named AE Rookie Of The Week...Freshman Courtney Doughman was named by the America East as Wilson Rookie of the Week for the week ending Jan. 25. Doughman had an outstanding week averaging 14.0 points per game en route to picking up the conference's weekly honors and becoming the first ever UMBC women's basketball player to earn a conference weekly award. Doughman, who came off the bench as a reserve in both games on the week, scored a career-high 17 points against conference leader Maine. Doughman hit 6-of-9 shots from the field and 5-of-6 from three-point range in 24 minutes of work. On the week the 5-8 guard shot 66.7 percent (10-of-15) from the floor and 80.0 percent (8-of-10) from three-point range.
Rookies Coming To Play…The freshman class this season has put together solid numbers for the Retrievers in their debut, averaging 34.5 percent of the Retrievers' total scoring. Courtney Doughman ranks third on the team with 7.2 ppg and recorded a career-high night with 22 against Albany. Sharri Rohde is averaging a team fourth best 6.6 ppg and hit a career-high night with 17 points against Loyola. Heather Luttrell posted a career-high 15 points in the first meeting with Northeastern going 5-of-5 from three-point range and Brittnie Hughes, who opened 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 37-of-38 attempts for a 97.6 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 is 19-of-19 from the free throw line in conference games.
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.
Retrievers Set Single-Game Team Marks...The Retrievers produced stellar numbers in the first meeting with Northeastern earlier this season 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).
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 in the first meeting with 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.
Lending A Helping Hand...The Retrievers have two players in the top-10 for assists per game since entering conference play. Maria Brown and Sharri Rohde have been handing out helpers with Brown ranking eighth in the league averaging 2.79 apg and Rohde 10th with 2.62 apg in league games. Brown leads the team with 60 assists on the year.
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.
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).
