Box score

ALBANY, N.Y. – UMBC women's basketball was unable to overcome poor shooting in the opening half, as Albany went on to defeat the Retrievers, 85-41, behind five double-digit scorers, in Wednesday night's America East contest at SEFCU Arena.  

Senior guard Raven Harris (Virginia Beach, Va./Princess Anne/American) garnered America East Player of the Game for the Retrievers (7-16, 3-7 AE), finishing with seven points, five rebounds and three assists, while junior forward Ashley Lambert (Fredericksburg, Va./Riverbend) scored a team-high nine points to go with four rebounds.

Freshman forward Shereesha Richards poured in 10-of-13 shots from the charity stripe and scored a game-high 22 points off the bench to lead Albany (19-3, 10-0 AE) to its 11th-straight victory and keep the Great Danes unbeaten in league play. Sophomore center Megan Craig added 19 points and eight rebounds.

A combination of full court and half court pressure from Albany, forced the Retrievers to a tough shot selection in the early going. UMBC hung around early getting buckets from junior center Dana Lewis (Brodhead, Wis./Brodhead) and Harris, but the Great Danes opened up a 12-0 run to go out in front 16-4 and never looked back.

The Retrievers worked on the offensive glass, pulling down eight rebounds off their own misses, but were unable to get to the free throw line – making just three trips to the line in the first half and 12 times overall – or convert on second chance opportunities.  

Harris got the Retrievers to the charity stripe for the first time in the contest with 6:50 left in the first half, as the senior guard drew contact and connected on a floater to end UMBC's 10:01 scoring drought. However, Albany responded with another 12-0 run, sparked by the play of Craig and Richards.

The black and gold shot 15.6 percent from the floor (4-for-26) and connected on 1-of-11 from beyond the arc, while turning the ball over 12 times in the first half. Albany shot at a .577 clip (15-for-26) from the field in the stanza to take a 36-11 advantage into the break.

The second half was more of the same, as the Great Danes continued to extend to their lead with senior guard Lindsay Lowrie draining two treys out of the locker room and senior forward Julie Forster following with six of her 12 points, to start a 24-3 spurt for UAlbany. Lowrie finished the night with 10 points, while classmate and reigning America East Player of the Week Ebone Henry also chipped in 10.

While UMBC shot better in the second half, connecting on 10-of-24 from the field (41.7 percent), the Retrievers were unable to chip away at the lead, which reached as many as 49, having gotten in foul trouble early in the period. Albany shot 26 free throws in contest and finished the night at 73.1 percent from the foul line.  

The Retrievers return home on Saturday, Feb. 9, in the first game of a UMBC-Vermont doubleheader. The Retriever women open up at 1 p.m. at the RAC Arena and are followed by the men at 3:30 p.m.

Dawg Notes:
-UMBC moves to 1-10 on the road. Albany has won five straight against the Retrievers and hold an 12-9 advantage in the all-time series.
-Senior guards Raven Harris and Brittany Crowell each ended their double-digit scoring streaks in the game. Harris had scored in double-digits in all nine contests of league play, while Crowell had 10-plus points in eight-straight games.