, Vt.—The UMBC women's basketball team (5-12, 1-3 AEC) dropped a 65-55 decision to America East rival Vermont (12-5, 3-1 AEC) Sunday afternoon at Patrick Gym. Senior guard Kristin Drabyn led the Retrievers with 15 points, with all five of her field goals coming from 3-point range.
The Catamounts jumped out to a 17-8 lead at the 10:26 mark before UMBC used a 10-0 run to take an 18-17 lead three minutes later. But Vermont scored 13 of the final 19 points of the first half, sparked by six points by forward Kelli Poles and five by guard Courtnay Pilypaitis to take a 30-24 lead into halftime.
Pilypaitis led all players with 11 points in the first period, while three Retrievers posted a team-high five.
The Catamounts maintained their lead until a 14-5 UMBC run, capped by a 3-pointer by sophomore guard Carlee Cassidy, gave the Retrievers a 42-41 advantage with 12:44 remaining in the game.
But Vermont came right back, as guard Sofia Iwobi hit a lay-up 20 seconds later, and the Catamounts did not relinquish the lead for the rest of the game.
The Retrievers trimmed their deficit to one point, 46-45, on three free throws by Cassidy with 9:52 to go, but Vermont guard May Kotsopoulos' 13 points in the next five and a half minutes sparked a 15-4 run that saw the Catamounts open a game-high 12-point lead, 61-49, with 4:10 left.
Drabyn drained two trifectas in the final minutes, but it was not enough to prevent the Retrievers' sixth loss in their last seven games.
Drabyn, UMBC's America East Player of the Game, scored a team-high 15 points and moved into second place all-time at UMBC with 134 career 3-pointers. She is just 17 behind school record-holder Shalayna Johnson, who drained 151 trifectas from 1999-2003.
Cassidy was the only other Retriever in double figures with 12 points. She made just two field goals but was 6-for-7 from the foul line, where UMBC shot 80 percent (12-for-15) as a team.
Kotsopoulos led all scorers with 18 points, while Poles posted a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Pilypaitis added 14 points, eight assists and seven rebounds in the game.
The Catamounts shot 50 percent in the second half and 45.5 percent in the game, and 23 of UMBC's 25 field goals were assisted. The Retrievers shot just 37 percent from the floor. Vermont also held a 41-22 rebounding advantage.
UMBC returns to action Tuesday, Jan. 22, at America East rival Albany. Game time is 7 p.m.
