, Fla. – The UMBC women's basketball team (2-1) gave BIG EAST opponent South Florida (4-0) a scare in the opening round of the Best Western Roundball Classic at the Sun Dome on Saturday. The Bulls, who received two votes in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 poll last week, were led by 33 points from Jessica Dickinson while the Retrievers with a balanced attack place four players in double figures. UMBC will take on Loyola (Ill.) in the consolation game on Sunday at 12 p.m.
The Retrievers held a 45-41 lead on a jumper by Matea Pender with 11:20 remaining in the second half but an 11 point run capped off by a three-pointer from Dickinson at the 9:33 mark gave the Bulls a seven-point lead, their largest of the game at that point.
UMBC fired back out of timeout, as Pender found Sharri Rohde on the wing for three-point basket to close the gap to four. Shantia Grace drained one of two foul shots to push the Bulls lead back to 53-48.
The Retrievers responded with a jumper by Amanda Robinson and a three-point basket from Brittnie Hughes at the 5:15 mark to knot the game at 53-53.
UMBC, however, would not hit another field goal in the game as Dickson broke the 10th tie of the game with a three-pointer and scored 11 of the final 13 points of the game for the Bulls.
UMBC closed a four-point deficit to one and trailed 29-28 at the end of the first half as Rohde netted a half court shot to beat the buzzer for the Retrievers.
Four Retrievers hit double-digits with Hughes leading the team with 15 points and seven assists. Hughes through the first three games of the season has three double-digit scoring games and averaging 6.33 assists per game.
Rohde and Robinson tallied 12 points each and Pender scored 10 points. UMBC shot 42.9 percent from the field on 21-of-49.
South Florida finished at 37.7 percent from the field on 26-of-69 as Dickinson tallied 10 rebounds and 33 points. Dickinson went 12-for-30 from the field and 4-of-11 from outside the arc. South Florida out rebounded UMBC 43-34 with 21 offensive boards.
