Baltimore, Md. - The UMBC Retrievers' women's basketball team travels to take on Stony Brook on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the SBU Sports Complex as the second half of the America East women's basketball season begins. The Retrievers are one of five AE games on tap for Saturday as they meet the Seawolves for the second time this season.
RETRIEVER UPDATE: The Retrievers fell victim to an 18-0 run over a span of five minutes in the late stages of the first half as Albany, after trailing by one, took a 17-point lead before Anastasia Goncharova broke the Retriever scoring drought with a trey. UMBC was never able to recover falling to the Great Danes, 75-58. A bright spot for the Retrievers in the losing effort was Courtney Doughman, who went 7-of-12 from the field and 7-of-10 from three-point range to score a career-high 22 points. Doughman is averaging 18.5 ppg over the last two games. Maria Brown chipped in 16 points for her second-consecutive double-digit outing and Goncharova had 10 in the game.
SEAWOLVES UPDATE: Kelly Watson scored a career-high 24 points to lead the Stony Brook Seawolves to a 79-70 win over Northeastern on Wednesday night. The win snapped the Seawolves' seven game losing streak and eight game home losing streak dating back to last season. Watson, along with fellow freshmen Mykeema Ford, Jessica Smith and Inbar Orion, combined for 61 of SB's 79 points. Ford leads the team averaging 12.8 points per game followed by Sherry Jordan with 10.9 ppg and Smith with 10.6 ppg.
Who's Up Next: The Retrievers return home for two games against Boston U. and Northeastern on Feb. 11th and 14th respectively.
All-time Series vs. Stony Brook: The Retrievers and Seawolves met for the first time in both schools conference openers back in January. The Seawolves came back from an 11-point deficit to beat the Retrievers, 53-49.
Round Two...In the first meeting this season between UMBC and Stony Brook, the Retrievers held an 11-point lead with 16 minutes to play but were unable to sustain that lead as Stony Brook came from behind to take a 53-49 win. Anastasia Goncharova had a team-high 18 points, but was held to just two points in the remaining 18 minutes of the game. The Retrievers continued to hold the lead up until just under two minutes in the game when Stony Brook finally completed the comeback with a lay-up to take a 48-47 lead with 1:58 to play. The Seawolves never relinquished their lead as they connected on their free throws down the stretch to take the four-point victory.
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.
From Down Town…The Retrievers in the latest NCAA statistics (games as of Feb. 2) rank 9th in the country in three-point field goals per game with an average of 7.5. Freshman Courtney Doughman has been hot from outside the arc as of late, hitting 20 treys in the last five games and shooting 64.5 percent from beyond the arc.
No Charity Allowed...In the latest NCAA statistics release (games thru Feb. 2), UMBC ranked third in the country in fouls per game at 13.1. UMBC finished fifth in the nation last year in fouls per game at 13.5.
Retrievers Lead Conference In Treys...The Retrievers lead the America East in made three-point field goals at the start of the week averaging 7.67 per game. The Retrievers are even stronger from outside the arc in league play, averaging 8.9 three-point baskets per game. The Retrievers rank second in three-point percentage in conference games, shooting 40.0 percent.
Retrievers Top Shooting Team In League Play...As of games through 2/1 the Retrievers lead the conference in field goal percentage during league play. The Retrievers as a squad are shooting 44.6 percent from the floor, going 183-410. Boston U. ranks second behind the Retrievers with 41.9 percent.
Retrievers Seal Win At The Line...Maria Brown sank 6-of-6 free throws and Courtney 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.
Rookies Coming To Play…The freshman class this season has put together solid numbers for the Retrievers in their debut, averaging 35.3 percent of the Retrievers' total scoring. Courtney Doughman ranks third on the team with 8.1 ppg and recorded a career-high night with 22 against Albany. Sharri Rohde is averaging a team fourth best 6.3 ppg and also hit a career -high night with 17 points against Loyola. Heather Luttrell posted a career-high 15 points against 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.
Retrievers Set Single-Game Team Marks...The Retrievers produced stellar numbers against 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 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 came within two treys of tying the NCAA mark of eight-consecutive treys made. 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.
Lending A Helping Hand...The Retrievers have three players in the top-12 for assists per game since entering conference play. Maria Brown, Sharri Rohde and Erin Voss all have been handing out helpers as of late with Brown averaging 3.0 apg in the last three contests. Brown leads the team with 47 assists on the year.
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 Scoring On The Rise...After averaging 39.4 ppg in the first seven contests, the Retrievers' scoring has started to rise averaging 55.1 points per game since starting conference play. UMBC had their best output of the season against Northeastern with 78 points.
Santos Cashing In At Charity Stripe...Mariana Santos has been spectacular at the free throw line this season, hitting 29-of-30 attempts for a 96.7 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 11-of-11 from the free throw line in conference games.
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.
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).
