ORONO, Maine—UMBC sophomore guard Carlee Cassidy scored a career-high 27 points, but it was not enough for the Retriever women's basketball team (4-10, 0-1 AEC), which dropped its America East Conference opener, 67-55, at Maine (4-10, 1-0 AEC) Saturday evening.
Maine guard Kris Younan scored the team's first nine points on three 3-pointers, and the Black Bears jumped out to a 25-10 lead with 8:43 to play in the first half. But the Retrievers closed the period on an 11-4 run to cut their deficit to eight points, 29-21, at halftime.
Cassidy, who traditionally comes alive in the second half of games, led all scorers with 13 points in the first period. Younan was tops on Maine with 11 points, while center Colleen Kilmurray posted 10.
The Retrievers shot just 30.8 percent in the first half while the Black Bears connected on 47.6 percent of their shots.
Maine maintained a double-digit lead through most of the first eight minutes of the second half as Kilmurray scored eight points during that stretch. Cassidy also scored eight points for UMBC in that same span.
The Retrievers used an 11-2 run to trim Maine's lead to three points, 50-47, with 7:56 remaining. But the Black Bears scored the next six points to go back up by nine points, 56-47, at the 6:15 mark.
Junior guard Chantay Frazier scored seven of UMBC's next eight points to again cut it four points with 2:04 left, but Maine drained eight straight free throws in the final two minutes to seal the 67-55 victory.
Cassidy's 27 points are a career high and the most by a Retriever since Sharri Rohde posted the same number at Vermont last season. Her 10 field goals were also a career best, and her five 3-pointers tied her career mark.
Kilmurray led three Black Bears in double figures with 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Younan added 13 points, while forward Brittany Boser contributed 12.
Senior guard Morgan Hatten led all players with seven rebounds, but Maine held a 35-37 advantage on the boards. Hatten added five assists, three steals and seven points.
The Retrievers shot 36.2 percent in the game, while the Black Bears made 46.5 percent of their attempts. In addition, Maine connected on 22 of 23 free throws, including 16 of 17 in the second half.
The Retrievers return to action Saturday, Jan. 12, when they host America East rival Stony Brook at 4:30 p.m. at the RAC Arena.
