BALTIMORE--Fresh off a 57-45 victory over Maine, the UMBC women's basketball team (10-13, 4-6 AE) travels to America East rival Binghamton (8-15, 4-6 AE) Wednesday evening. Tip-off from the Events Center is set for 7 p.m.
RETRIEVER UPDATE: UMBC won at the RAC for the first time since Dec. 2 with a 57-45 victory over Maine on Sunday, improving to 10-13 overall and 4-6 in America East play. Sophomore center Topé Obajolu and sophomore guard Katie Brooks scored 16 points apiece, while senior guard Carlee Cassidy added 15 in the game, which was originally scheduled for Saturday but postponed due to the blizzard that dumped more than two feet of snow on the Baltimore area. The Retrievers shot 50 percent (20-for-40) from the field, their second-highest shooting percentage this season. Obajolu is shooting 53.7 percent from the floor during conference play, the third-best mark in the America East. Cassidy leads the Retrievers with 13.4 ppg on the season. Already UMBC's all-time leader in 3-pointers, Cassidy ranks third in America East history with 233 career triples, and she ranks second in the league with 2.4 per game this season. She is also UMBC's second all-time leading scorer with 1,536 career points..
BEARCAT UPDATE: Binghamton is 8-15 overall and 4-6 in America East play after a 74-60 loss at Stony Brook on Saturday. Guard Andrea Holmes led the Bearcats with 15 points and added eight rebounds. Three Bearcats are averaging double figures on the season, led by guard Erica Carter's 13.8 ppg, ranking fifth in the America East. She also leads the league with 3.6 three-pointers made per game, and she ranks second with a .466 shooting percentage from behind the arc, while Holmes averages a league-best 5.3 apg. Binghamton is the best 3-point shooting team in the conference, draining triples at a 35.4 percent clip while making 7.3 per game. The Bearcats were picked to finish third in the America East preseason poll.
Who's Up Next: The Retrievers conclude their brief two-game road trip at New Hampshire on Saturday. The Wildcats won the first matchup this season, 77-67, at RAC Arena. New Hampshire holds a 7-6 all-time series advantage The Wildcats, which were picked to finish fourth in the America East preseason poll, are currently 8-16 overall and 3-8 in conference play.
Inside the Series...
Wednesday's game marks the 16th all-time meeting between UMBC and Binghamton, and the Bearcats hold an 11-4 series advantage, having won four straight and six of the last seven meetings. The first meeting occurred on Jan. 28, 2004, a 61-48 victory for the host Bearcats. Binghamton took the first two contests before the Retrievers won, 50-46, on Jan. 22, 2005, in Vestal. The teams have split the season series in four of the last five years. As America East rivals, the teams have met twice a year since the 2003-04 season, but had never faced off prior to the Retrievers joining the conference. UMBC is 1-5 all-time against the Bearcats in Vestal.
In the teams' last meeting, Jan. 18, 2010, four Retrievers scored in double figures, but Binghamton defeated UMBC, 80-63. Sophomore guard Katie Brooks led the Retrievers with 13 points, while senior guard Carlee Cassidy had 11 to go along with a team-high seven rebounds and three assists. Binghamton guard Erica Carter led all scorers with 27 points on seven 3-pointers, while guard Andrea Holmes tallied 17 points, nine rebounds, six assists and three steals. Forward Viive Rebane also recorded 17 points for the Bearcats.
News and Notes...
For Starters: UMBC opens the season with at least 10 wins in its first 23 games for the second year in a row and the fourth time in five years. The Retrievers' best-ever record after 23 games was 17-6 in 1985-86.
Movin' On Up: With 18 points against Fordham on Dec. 29, senior guard Carlee Cassidy became UMBC's second all-time leading scorer and Division I record holder, and she became the 30th player in America East history to score 1,500 points with 12 against Stony Brook on Jan. 28. With 1,536 career points, Cassidy is the third-leading scorer among active players in the America East behind Vermont's Courtnay Pilypaitis (1,840) and May Kotsopoulos (1,619), and she ranks 27th overall. Cassidy became the 16th Retriever ever to score 1,000 points in her career on Jan. 21, 2009, against Albany, her 77th career game. She is the fourth-fastest Retriever to reach the milestone, as only Tammy McCarthy, Felice Pinkney and Kori Kindbom needed less games to accomplish the feat, and she is also only the third Retriever ever to score her 1,000th point during her junior season, joining McCarthy and Kindbom.
Road Warriors: UMBC picked up its sixth road win of the season on Jan. 24 at Boston U., its most since winning a school Division I-record eight games on the raod in 1998-99. Last season, despite winning four neutral site games, UMBC won just one road contest, defeating Maine at Alfond Arena.
Road Warriors, Part II: With victories at Towson and Bucknell Nov. 24-29, the Retrievers won back-to-back road games for the first time since defeating Fairleigh Dickinson and Longwood Dec. 2-9, 2006. UMBC then bettered the feat with three straight wins at America East rivals Maine (Jan. 10), Albany (Jan. 13) and Boston U. (Jan. 24), the first time the Retrievers have won three consecutive contests on the raod since defeating Central Connecticut State, St. Francis (Pa.) and Robert Morris Jan. 13-20, 2001.
Pack the RAC: The Jan. 21 game against Vermont was UMBC's fifth annual Midday Madness, an event that has averaged 1,398 fans since its inception in 2006. The Retrievers welcomed 2,023 fans to the RAC on Thursday, the arena's biggest crowd ever for a women's basketball game, surpassing the 1,604 that witnessed UMBC host 14th-ranked Virginia in the 2009-10 season opener. Included in Thursday's crowd were more than 1,300 students from local elementary and middle schools.
Tip-Top Topé: Sophomore center Topé Obajolu has broken out since America East play began Jan. 6. In 10 league games, Obajolu is averaging 12.0 ppg - the second-best mark on the team - and shooting a team-best 53.7 percent from the floor and 84.2 percent from the foul line, ranking third in the America East in both categories. She also leads the team with a league-best 2.5 blocks per game. In 13 non-conference games, she scored 67 points (5.2 ppg), but she has nearly doubled that total in the last 10 contests with 120 points. Obajolu scored a career-high 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting against New Hampshire on Jan. 16.
Cassidy for Three: Already UMBC's all-time record holder for career 3-pointers, senior guard Carlee Cassidy became just the seventh player in America East history to drain 200 triples in her career with the second of her career-high seven 3's against East Carolina on Dec. 28, and she now has 233, the third-most in league history. Cassidy broke UMBC's all-time mark on Feb. 11, 2009, against Vermont. In addition, she has attempted a school-record 717 three-pointers in her career. Cassidy also set UMBC's single-season 3-point record at 80 in 2008-09 and was one of three players to break the America East record for 3-pointers made in a season last year, along with Boston University's Kristi Dini (109) and Albany's Britney McGee (83).
Double Your Pleasure: Four Retrievers have scored in double figures six times this season, including a three-game streak from Nov. 15-24, but the Jan. 18 game against Binghamton was the first time UMBC had accomplished the feat since Dec. 20 at Loyola. Five Retrievers reached double figures on Nov. 15 agaisnt UMES for the first time since Nov. 26, 2006, against NJIT. Senior guard Carlee Cassidy has reached double digitis in 70 of 80 games since the start of the 2007-08 season. She has scored at least 10 points a team-best 18 times this year.
Charity Case: Sophomore guard Michelle Kurowski ranks second all-time at UMBC with a career .821 free throw percentage. Senior guard Carlee Cassidy ranks third at .785, while her 333 free throws made are the second-highest total in school history. Kurowski ranks third in the America East with an 82.7 free throw percentage this season, the third-best ever in school history. In addition, sophomore center Topé Obajolu, who was just 6-for-20 from the line in the first 13 games this season, has made 32 of her last 38 attempts (84.2 percent) over the last 10 games, including a perfect 6-for-6 effort against Hartford on Jan. 6.
Second Helpings: UMBC has trailed at halftime in five of its 10 victories, including by 13 points at Fordham on Dec. 29. The Retrievers have averaged 34.1 points in the second half compared to 27.3 in the first half and have outscored their opponents 12 times in the second stanza by a combined 785-780. UMBC has also scored more points in the second half than the first 16 times and has posted a higher shooting percentage 16 times, including better than 50 percent in eight games.
New York State of Mind: Guards Carlee Cassidy (Syracuse) and Michelle Kurowski (Hicksville), both natives of New York, have provided a stellar one-two punch for the Retrievers the last two years, accounting for 46.4 percent (1,621 of 3,497 points) of UMBC's total offense since the start of the 2008-09 campaign and ranking as the Retrievers' top two leading scorers both seasons. Cassidy and Kurowski each scored more than 2,000 points in their prep careers, ranking among the best all-time in the state of New York.
Block Party: Sophomore center Topé Obajolu leads the America East with 2.5 blocks per game in 10 America East contests, and she ranks fourth with 1.4 bpg overall this season, while junior forward Meghan Colabella is 10th with 0.9 bpg. Both players rank in UMBC's top 15 for career blocks, with Obajolu 13th with 56 and Colabella tied for 14th with 51.
Special K: Sophomore guard Michelle Kurowski has been named America East Player of the Week twice this season (Weeks 1, 3), making her the first Retriever to win the award more than once in a season since teammate Carlee Cassidy won the award three times in 2007-08. Kurowski also scored her 500th career point on Nov. 29 at Bucknell, making her just the 10th Retriever to reach the milestone as a sophomore during UMBC's 24-year Division I history.
Three's Company: The Retrievers' 140-game streak with at least one 3-pointer, which dated to Feb. 5, 2005, was snapped on Dec. 22 at West Virginia, when they went 0-for-10 from long distance. Each of the top seven single-season totals in UMBC history have occurred during head coach Phil Stern's tenure.
Super Sophs: UMBC's four sophomores combined to score 26 of the Retrievers' 31 points in the second half at Albany on Jan. 13 and amassed 51 of UMBC's 62 total points and 18 of the team's 23 field goals in the game. Guard Katie Brooks led the way with a season-high 16 points, while center Topé Obajolu tied her career best with 15. Forward Erin Brown added 12 points, while guard Michelle Kurowski netted eight.
Slump Buster: Sophomore forward Erin Brown scored 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting at Maine on Jan. 10, breaking out of a six-game slump in which she averaged just 3.7 ppg and shot 32.1 percent. It was her first double-figure scoring effort since Dec. 12 at Coppin State.
Three Musketeers: Just five Retrievers found the basket on Jan. 10 at Maine, with three players - guards Carlee Cassidy (19) and Michelle Kurowski (17) and forward Erin Brown (15) - scoring 51 of UMBC's 61 points in the game. The trio shot 52.5 percent (21-for-40) from the floor and made all seven of UMBC's 3-pointers, while the rest of the team was just 2-for-13 (15.4 percent) from the field. The trio combined to score 29 of UMBC's 31 points in the first half. Sophomore center Topé Obajolu (6) and sophomore guard Katie Brooks (4) were the only other Retrievers to score in the game.
Hartford Heartbreaker: Just a week after pulling off a pair of comeback wins at the Fordham Holiday Classic, the Retrievers almost did it again in their America East Conference opener against Hartford on Jan. 6. UMBC trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half but rallied to lead by as many as three points in the second period. After falling behind by six with just 24 seconds left, the Retrievers capitalized on Hartford's missed free throws to pull to within three, but senior guard Carlee Cassidy's potential game-tying 3-point attempt bounced off the back of the rim.
Classic Cassidy: Senior guard Carlee Cassidy broke out of a slump with two huge games at the Fordham Holiday Classic Dec. 28-29. After averaging just 7.0 ppg and shooting 28 percent with just one 3-pointer in the three previous games, Cassidy averaged 22.5 ppg and shot 48.3 percent with nine triples in two contests at Fordham, including a season-high 27 points with a career-best seven 3-pointers on Dec. 28 against East Carolina.
Comeback Classic: The Retrievers found themselves in deep first-half deficits in both games of the Fordham Holiday Classic Dec. 28-29, only to rally for a pair of come-from-behind victories. UMBC was down by as many as 13 points against East Carolina and trailed Fordham by as much as 15. The Retrievers' comeback against the Rams was perhaps the most impressive: Down by 13 at halftime, UMBC opened the second stanza with an 18-2 run over the first six minutes to take its first lead of the game. The Retrievers shot better than 50 percent in the second half of both contests, including a sizzling 59.1 percent against ECU. Against Fordham, senior guard Carlee Cassidy scored 16 of her 18 points in the second period, while sophomore guard Michelle Kurowski tallied all 12 of her points in the second stanza.
Unusual Suspects: Down to just eight players in uniform after injuries to forwards Meghan Colabella and Erin Brown, the Retrievers got major contributions from some unlikely sources on Dec. 2 against Navy. Junior guard Chelsea Barker had a perfect shooting night, going 4-for-4 from the floor, including 3-for-3 from long range, and 4-for-4 from the foul line, tying her career high with a team-best 15 points. In addition, sophomore center Topé Obajolu posted her second career double-double with 12 points and a career-high 14 rebounds, tying the single-game best by a Retriever this season. The pair had combined to score just 37 points in the previous five games.
Three For All: Guards Katie Brooks, Carlee Cassidy and Michelle Kurowski combined to score all 38 of UMBC's first-half points at Bucknell on Nov. 29 as the Retrievers opened a 13-point halftime lead. Kurowski led all scorers with 17 points, while Cassidy had 11 and Brooks added 10. The trio also combined to make six 3-pointers in the period.
Raining Three's: The Retrievers tied a school record with 14 three's on Nov. 15 against UMES, a mark originally set Jan. 17, 2004, at Northeastern. Senior guard Carlee Cassidy, sophomore guard Michelle Kurowski and junior forward Meghan Colabella combined to make 12 of the 14 three-pointers, as each nailed four, marking career highs for both Colabella and Kurowski. The Retrievers then made 11 on Nov. 24 at Towson, including eight in the second half on just 11 attempts, with a career-high four from sophomore forward Erin Brown. UMBC drained 10 three-pointers for the third time this season on Dec. 12 at Coppin State, with Brown, Colabella and Kurowski hitting three each, while Cassidy made five of the Retrievers' 10 triples at Boston U. last Sunday, but the biggest was hit by sophomore guard Katie Brooks with less than two minutes remaining.
Cardiac Kids: After opening the season with three straight games with double-digit scoring margins, the Retrievers ended November with a pair of close ones. UMBC fought back from a 10-point first-half deficit to defeat Towson, 74-72, on a last-second layup by senior guard Carlee Cassidy on Nov. 24. The score was tied 10 times, including with six seconds left. Then on Nov. 29 at Bucknell, after leading by 13 points at halftime, the Retrievers staved off a furious Bison comeback to hold on for a 68-63 win. Bucknell tied the game at 60 with less than three minutes remaining, but sophomore guard Michelle Kurowski scored UMBC's final eight points. Eight of UMBC's 10 wins this season have been by nine points or less.
Double-Double Vision: Junior forward Meghan Colabella posted her second straight double-double and the fifth of her career with 15 points and 10 rebounds against UMES on Nov. 15, while sophomore guard Michelle Kurowski notched her second career double-double with 22 points and a career-high 14 boards. It was the first time two Retrievers tallied double-doubles in the same game since Sharri Rohde and Amanda Robinson accomplished the feat on Dec. 2, 2006, at Fairleigh Dickinson. The duo has combined for seven of UMBC's nine double-doubles this season, with sophomore center Topé Obajolu senior guard Carlee Cassidy notching the others. Cassidy had never reached double-digit rebounds in the first 103 games of her career before grabbing 11 boards at Maine on Jan. 10.
Against the America East: UMBC joined the America East in 2003-04, and the Retrievers are 35-75 in seven years of America East play. All-time, UMBC is 37-77 against its current America East opponents, including games played against them before they were conference rivals, as well as games played in the America East Championships, which do not count as league games. The Retrievers are also 1-5 alltime against former America East member Northeastern, including 1-3 in conference play from 2004-05.
Century Mark: The Retrievers set a school Division I record for points scored against UMES on Nov. 15 with 102 points. The last time a UMBC team tallied at least 100 points was Nov. 29, 1985, in a 108-76 victory at Shippensburg, while an America East team had not scored 100 points in a game since Drexel posted 101 at Vermont on Feb. 8, 2001. The Retrievers also scored a school-record 59 points in the second half, eclipsing the 57 points scored in a period twice, both occurring during the 1985-86 season. In addition, UMBC's 37-point margin of victory was its largest since defeating Salisbury State, 94-46, on Jan. 12, 1991.
Dishing it Out: UMBC set a new school record for assists in a game with 28 against UMES on Nov. 15. Sophomore guard Michelle Kurowski led the way with a career-high seven helpers, while sophomore guard Katie Brooks dished out six and senior guard Carlee Cassidy added five. In all, nine out of 10 players to see action tallied at least one assist.
High-Water Marks: The Retrievers set a number of America East single-game highs for the 2009-10 campaign in their contest against UMES on Nov. 15, including points (102), field goals (39), 3-pointers (14) and assists (28). In addition, .557 field goal percentage agaisnt the Hawks ranks as the second-best mark in the league this season. UMBC's perfect 11-for-11 effort at the foul line against Maine on Sunday was also the best mark in the conference this year.
To the Limit: UMBC gave 14th-ranked Virginia all it could handle in the season opener on Nov. 13 in front of a record crowd of 1,604 at the RAC. The game was tied, 34-34, at halftime, and the Retrievers led, 48-47, at the 7:52 mark before the Cavaliers used a 13-0 run to take the lead for good and eventually post a 68-57 victory.
Bragging Rights: UMBC took on five of the other eight Division I schools in the state of Maryland this season. The Retrievers hosted UMES (Nov. 15) and Navy (Dec. 2) and traveled to Towson (Nov. 24), Coppin State (Dec. 12) and Loyola (Dec. 20). UMBC went 3-2 against its in-state rivals with a 102-65 victory over UMES, a 74-72 win at Towson, a 59-51 triumph over Navy, a 55-54 loss at Coppin State and an 81-74 loss at Loyola.
Back in the Mix: The Retrievers return 93.9 percent (1,955 of 2,083 points) of their scoring offense from last season, led by senior guard Carlee Cassidy's school-record 613 points. UMBC scored more than 2,000 points for just the second time in school history but the first in the Division I era. The Retrievers scored a school-record 2,271 points in 1985-86. In addition, UMBC's 69.4 points per games were the second-best mark in program history behind the 1985-86 squad's 78.3 ppg and ranked second in the America East.
Retrievers Picked Sixth: For the third time in the last four years, UMBC was picked to finish sixth in the America East preseason coaches poll. Defending champion Vermont was selected to win the conference, narrowly edging perennial favorite Hartford.
Another Honor for Cassidy: Senior guard Carlee Cassidy, who led the America East in scoring for the second year in a row at 20.4 ppg last season, was selected to the league's preseason all-conference team. She joins Hartford's Erica Beverly and Vermont's Courtnay Pilypaitis as repeat selections, as all three garnered preseason nods in 2008-09, as well.
Follow the Retrievers: UMBC fans can now keep up with their favorite teams in a number of new ways, as UMBC Athletics is now on social networking sites Facebook and Twitter. Fans can also follow head coach Phil Stern on Twitter, as well as in his new blog, PHILosophy, while the Retrievers also have the UMBC Dawg Blog.
Retrievers All-Access: All of the Retrievers' home games will be video streamed through UMBC's multimedia website, www.UMBCRetrievers.tv. An All-Access Pass, available for $59.95, gives fans the opportunity to watch not only all the live coverage of various UMBC home athletic events, but also premium content not available to view without the All-Access Pass. The premium content includes any and all UMBC player and coaches interviews, highlights and an in-depth archive section of all video available on UMBCRetrievers.TV. Single-game subscriptions for all live events will be available throughout the season for $4.95.
