Baltimore, Md. – The UMBC women's basketball team (14-8, 6-5 America East) won its sixth straight game as the Retrievers rallied from 16-points down to defeat Vermont (7-14, 3-8 AE) by a final score of 72-63 on Sunday afternoon at UMBC RAC Arena. UMBC placed four players in double figures as the Retrievers moved to 8-1 at home this season.
UMBC fell into trouble early on as Retriever point guard Brittnie Hughes (Roanoke, Va./Northside) picked up her second foul at the 12:20 mark in the first half with UMBC leading 18-11. Vermont would take advantage of Hughes being force to the bench for the majority of rest of the first stanza, going on a 29-6 run and holding the Retrievers without a field goal for over 11 minutes to take a 40-24 lead with 1:15 left in the first period.
Vermont made six three-point baskets during their run and eight in the entire first half as the Catamounts went 13-for-29 from the field for 44.8 percent shooting and 8-for-15 outside the arc, 53.3 percent.
Heather Luttrell (Kokomo, Ind./Northwestern) drained a trey with 1:03 remaining in the half to break UMBC's field goal drought and than hit one of two free throws with 26 seconds remaining to close the deficit to 40-28 by the break.
Vermont continued to answer Retriever baskets to open the second half holding a nine point lead at 57-48 with 8:04 to play. UMBC junior forward Sharri Rohde (Indianapolis, Ind./Franklin Central) started the Retriever rally with five-consecutive points on a lay-up and a three-point basket, pulling UMBC within four at 57-53.
Vermont would go back on top by seven at 60-53 before Matea Pender (Sibinek, Croatia/The Croatian National Team) scored the traditional three-point play, making the lay-up with a foul and converting the free throw to close the gap to 60-56. Luttrell knocked down a three-point basket on the ensuing possession to pull UMBC within one at 60-59 and than Amanda Robinson (Lusby, Md./Patuxent) turned around about five feet out on the baseline to bank in a jumper and give UMBC its first lead since the middle part of the first half at 61-60.
The Retrievers held Vermont to two field goals the final eight minutes of the game and outscored the Catamounts 22-6 during that span to complete the come-from-behind victory. UMBC knocked down 7-of-8 free throws in the final three minutes to seal the win.
The Retrievers were led by 16 points and 10 rebounds from Rohde while Luttrell scored a career-high off the bench with 16 points, going 4-for-4 from the field and outside the arc. Pender and Hughes each scored 14 points.
Vermont was led by Alexis Castro with 20 points while Ashleigh Cuncic tallied 17 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double.
The Retrievers put their six-game win streak on the line against conference leader Hartford, who entered Sunday with a flawless 10-0 league mark, on Wednesday, February 15 at 7 p.m. at UMBC RAC Arena.
