BOSTON—The UMBC women's basketball team (6-13, 2-4 AEC) led America East rival Boston University (11-8, 4-2 AEC) by 16 points at halftime but was outscored, 50-24, in the second period in a 72-62 loss Wednesday evening at the Terriers' Case Gymnasium.
Boston U. held a 13-12 lead at the 11:28 mark of the first half, as forward Jesyka Burks-Wiley scored nine of the Terriers' first 13 points of the game, before the Retrievers went on a 24-4 run to take a game-high 19-point advantage, 36-17, with two minutes to go in the first half. Boston U. went scoreless for nearly five full minutes during the Retrievers' spurt, and UMBC led, 38-22, at halftime.
Sophomore guard Carlee Cassidy scored the Retrievers' first seven points of the game and posted 17 points in the first half, nearly equaling her season scoring average of 17.5 points per game. Junior guard Chantay Frazier added 11 points.
The Retrievers shot 52 percent (13-for-25) in the first period, including 50 percent (6-for-12) from 3-point range, while holding the Terriers to just 20.6 percent (7-for-24) from the floor and 9.1 percent (1-for-11) from long distance.
But the second half was a different story for both teams. The Terriers opened the period with a 27-10 run to take the lead at 49-48 at the 11:05 mark. Forward Aly Hinton scored 10 points during that stretch, while guard Amarachi Umez-Eronini added nine.
The Retrievers briefly regained a four-point lead with six points apiece by Frazier and senior guard Kristin Drabyn, but BU guard Kristi Dini buried a three-pointer and Hinton drained two free throws to put the Terriers on top for good with 5:34 to play.
Down by two points with 4:26 left, the Retrievers had several opportunities to tie the score over the next two and a half minutes but could not capitalize when the Terriers' next four possessions resulted in three missed shots and a turnover. Boston U. scored the final eight points of the game for the 72-62 victory.
Frazier led three Retrievers in double figures with a career-high 21 points, while Drabyn scored 18 on 6-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-4 from long distance. Drabyn is shooting 70 percent (14-for-20) from the floor in her last two games.
Hinton and Umez-Eronini each posted double-doubles, as Hinton scored a game-high 23 points and added 14 rebounds, while Umez-Eronini scored 13 and grabbed 16 boards.
The Terriers out-rebounded the Retrievers, 50-29, and posted 27 offensive boards to UMBC's five, leading to 24 second-chance points.
The Retrievers shot 44.9 percent in the game, while the Terriers shot 34.3 percent, including 47.2 percent in the second half.
The Retrievers return to action on Saturday, when they host America East rival New Hampshire at 7 p.m.
