BALTIMORE – UMBC women's basketball returns to action and looks for a season-best third straight victory, when it travels to Stony Brook, N.Y. to take on the Seawolves in America East action. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. at Pritchard Gymnasium. All the action can be seen live on Optimum Local 118, available to Optimum cable subscribers in Nassau and Suffolk counties.
SCOUTING THE RETRIEVERS (9-16, 5-7 AE): UMBC won its second straight contest for the second time this season, picking up a 59-50 victory against New Hampshire in the Retrievers' Play 4Kay contest on Wednesday. Senior guard Kristin Coles shot a perfect six-for-six from the field and fell one rebound shy of her second consecutive double-double, finishing the contest with a season-high 16 points, to go with nine rebounds. Senior guard Raven Harris also registered 16 points and added seven rebounds, four assists and three steals. Sophomore guard Ashley Lambert also provided a spark off the bench scoring eight points.
Senior guard Brittany Crowell ranks fourth in the America East in scoring, averaging 12.3 points per game on the season, and third in points per game (14.2) during conference play. Harris has scored double-digit points in 11 of 12 conference games and is piloting the Retrievers in scoring during the span at 15.5 points per game - second in the league. The senior guard is 12th in Division I in steals per game (3.36) and he 84 takeaways on the season is third on UMBC's single-season steals list. Since returning from her second injury of the season, Coles is shooting 41.7 percent from the floor and is averaging 10.3 points and 8.0 rebounds.
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 SEAWOLVES (13-13, 5-8 AE): Stony Brook sits in sixth in the America East after dropping three of its last four games. SBU's late comeback against Vermont on Saturday fell short, as the Seawolves fell to the Catamounts 46-43. Senior forward Jessica Previlon notched her eighth double-double of the season on game-highs of 12 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman forward Brittany Snow tallied 10 points and seven rebounds, while junior guard Chikilra Goodman chipped in nine points and 10 rebounds.
Sophomore forward Sabre Proctor is the only Seawolves averaging in double-digits, scoring 10.4 points per game - ranking 11th in league. Previlon is chipping in 9.1 points and a team-best 8.0 rebounds - third in the conference. Goodman is first on the team in scoring during America East action with 10.0 points per game, to along with 6.3 boards.
INSIDE THE SERIES: UMBC took an 11-10 advantage in the all-time series and won its sixth straight meeting against Stony Brook with a 70-59 victory versus the Seawolves in front of a UMBC women's basketball record crowd of 2,905 on Jan. 23. Senior guard Brittany Crowell matched a career-high and led four double-digit scorers for the Retrievers with a game-high 25 points.
ON THE HORIZON FOR THE RETRIEVERS: With two weeks to go in the regular season, the Retrievers look to continue to work their way up the America East rankings, taking on second-seeded Boston University on Saturday, Feb. 23. UMBC looks to pick up the season split after falling 63-49 to the Terriers on Jan. 26. The Retrievers celebrate Senior Night at the RAC Arena against Hartford on Feb. 27 and conclude the regular season at Binghamton on March 2 in an ESPN3 broadcast.
