BALTIMORE – UMBC women's basketball
concludes its three game road trip on Wednesday, Jan. 16 when it
travels to Hartford. The Retrievers look for their first road win
of the season and look to snap a two-game skid when they take on
the Hawks at noon at Chase Arena.
SCOUTING THE RETRIEVERS (5-12,
1-3 AE): UMBC dropped a pair of heartbreakers last
week, dropping contests to New Hampshire and Vermont by a combined
four points. The Retrievers turned the ball over just seven times
in the game against the Wildcats, but two came in the final 20
seconds of the contest, as UMBC came up short, 63-62. In Saturday's
63-60 loss to Vermont, the black and gold all but eliminated an
11-point deficit, coming within one point with 3:20 to go and again
with five seconds to go, but the Retrievers could not get off the
game-tying shot in the final 4.1 seconds.
Guards Bria
White and Raven Harris each had a career-day during
the week. White notched career-highs against the Wildcats, scoring
22 points and pulling down nine rebounds, while Harris tabbed
career-highs in points (22), rebounds (eight) and assists (eight)
and added five steals versus Vermont. Harris, who ranks ninth in
Division I in steals per game (3.67), has played 149 of 160
possible minutes since conference play began and has scored
double-digit points in all four
contests. Classmate Brittany Crowell chipped
in 17 points in each of the two contests last week and is scoring
11.1 points per game on the season.
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 HAWKS (11-6, 2-2
AE): After starting the conference schedule 0-2,
Hartford won two straight last week, including victories over Maine
and Stony Brook. Senior forward Nikkia Smith led the Hawks to a
52-37 win at Maine on Wednesday, finishing the game with 15 points
and eight rebounds. Classmate Daphne Elliott led the way with 19
points in a 59-43 victory against Stony Brook on Saturday.
Smith is coming off the bench to average
a team-best 11.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. Elliott and
junior guard Alyssa Englert are the only two players to have
started all 17 games on the season. Elliott leads the team in
steals (1.8 spg) and is adding 8.3 points, while Englert has a
team-best 58 assists.
INSIDE THE
SERIES: UMBC split a pair of meetings last season,
overcoming a 13-point deficit to earn a 71-59 victory on its home
court, but fell 66-54 on the road. The Retrievers have picked up
just one win on the road against the Hawks, a 53-48 victory on Feb.
20, 2011.
ON THE HORIZON FOR THE
RETRIEVERS: The Retrievers have a bye on Saturday,
Jan. 19, but return home on Jan. 23 for their annual Midday Madness
contest. The event will air live on ESPN3, as the Retrievers take
on Stony Brook at the RAC Arena at noon. UMBC hosts Boston
University (Jan. 26), followed by a matchup with Binghamton (Jan.
30) to close out the month.
