—The UMBC women's basketball team (8-11, 2-4 AE) dropped its third straight game, falling to No. 24 Vermont (15-4, 5-1 AE) by a score of 79-51 Thursday afternoon in front of 2,023 fans, a RAC Arena record crowd for a women's basketball game. More than 1,300 local elementary and middle school students came out to support the Retrievers for UMBC's fifth annual Midday Madness.
The Catamounts led from the start, using a 9-0 run to jump out to a 19-5 lead at the 11:27 mark of the first half. The Retrievers scored eight of the next 10 points with a pair of 3-pointers by sophomore guard Michelle Kurowski (Hicksville, N.Y./Hicksville) and senior guard Carlee Cassidy (Syracuse, N.Y./Westhill) to pull to within eight at 21-13, but Vermont went on another 12-3 run to go up, 33-16, with 3:06 remaining. The score was 35-22 at halftime.
UMBC got back to within 10 points, 37-27, early in the second stanza, but the Catamounts scored 14 straight points to take a commanding 24-point lead, 51-27, with 15:24 remaining in the game, and the Retrievers did not get closer than 21 points the rest of the way.
Junior guard Chelsea Barker (Waterville, Maine/Messalonskee) was the only Retriever in double figures with 10 points. Junior forward Meghan Colabella (Upper Montclair, N.J./Montclair) was named UMBC's America East Player of the Game with seven points, eight rebounds, three assists and two blocks, while sophomore center Topé Obajolu (Randallstown, Md./Archbishop Carroll) recorded nine points and tied her career high with four blocks.
Vermont forward Kendra Seto led the Catamounts with 22 points and 12 rebounds, while center Tonya Young also posted a double-double with 21 points and 10 boards en route to her team's Player of the Game honors.
The Retrievers shot just 30.6 percent in the game, compared with 45.0 percent for the Catamounts, and were outrebounded, 46-28. Vermont's 17 offensive boards accounted for 19 second-chance points.
The Retrievers return to action on Sunday, Jan. 24, when they travel to America East rival Boston University.
