BALTIMORE – UMBC women's basketball
travels to Vermont on Saturday, Jan. 12 for the first of two games
that feature the Retrievers and the Catamounts in America East
Conference action. The UMBC women open the doubleheader at noon
inside of Patrick Gymnasium, followed by the men at 3:00 p.m. Both
games can be heard live on Q1370/www.q1370.com, with Paul
Mittermeier on the call.
SCOUTING THE RETRIEVERS (5-11,
1-2 AE): UMBC dropped a tough one against New
Hampshire on Wednesday, falling to New Hampshire, 63-62. The
Retrievers turned the ball over a season-low seven times in the
contest, but two came in the final 30 seconds of the contest, as
the Wildcats avenged last season's 59-57 loss to the Retrievers in
the America East Conference Quarterfinals. Sophomore
guard Bria White led UMBC in scoring for the second
straight game, tabbing career highs in points (22) and rebounds
(nine) in the contest. Senior guard Brittany
Crowell added 17 points, while senior guard Raven
Harris finished in double-digit points for the third
consecutive game with 13 points.
White and Crowell have led the Retrievers
in scoring in 11 of 16 games this season and have scored in
double-digits a combined 15 times on the year. White and Crowell
rank in the top-eight in the league in scoring at 11.0 and 10.8
points per game, respectively. Crowell is adding a team-best 4.9
rebounds. Harris is doing a little bit of everything for UMBC this
season, averaging 9.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.7 steals - ranking
11th in Division I - and 2.4 assists.
Head coach Phil
Stern is in his 11th season at the helm of the Retrievers'
program, after leading the black and gold to their second America
East Championship game appearance last season. Following the
graduation of 59.5 percent of the conference's highest scoring
offense in 2011-12, UMBC (34 votes) was tabbed to finish sixth in
the league behind Albany (61), Boston University (56), Hartford
(54), New Hampshire (37) and Vermont (37).
SCOUTING THE CATAMOUNTS (4-11,
1-1 AE): Vermont returns home for just the second
time in seven games on Saturday when it hosts the Retrievers. The
Catamounts squeaked out a 63-60 overtime victory against New
Hampshire in their America East home opener on Jan. 2, but fell,
58-30, in their most recent contest to Boston University on
Wednesday. Sophomore guard Tierra Shumpert scored a team-high 12
points for UVM, shooting 5-for-12 from the field.
Shumpert is averaging a team-best 13.5
points per game in Vermont's two conference games, on the season
she is scoring 8.3 points per contest. Sophomore forward Niki
Taylor is chipping in 8.1 points per game off the bench - having
started in just six of the team's 15 games on the season. Senior
forward Lauren Buschmann is pulling down a team-best 5.4 rebounds
per game, to go with 7.8 points.
INSIDE THE
SERIES: UMBC has won four straight against Vermont,
including a pair of victories last season. In the first meeting of
2011-12, the Retrievers got 20 points from Michelle
Kurowski and 19 points from Kristin Coles in a 67-58
victory. The black and gold hosted the Catamounts on Senior Day at
the RAC Arena in last year's regular season finale, as four
Retrievers finished in double-digits in a 72-60 win.
ON THE HORIZON FOR THE RETRIEVERS: The
Retrievers conclude a three-game road trip at Hartford (Jan. 16)
before taking Saturday, Jan. 19th off. UMBC returns home on Jan. 23
for its annual Midday Madness contest. The event will air live on
ESPN3, as the Retrievers take on Stony Brook at the RAC Arena at
noon.
