BALTIMORE – UMBC women's basketball heads to Vestal, N.Y. on Saturday, March 2 to take on Binghamton in front of a national audience in its regular season finale. Both teams have still yet to decide their playoff seeding in the final weekend of America East action. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN3, with Ed Cohen and Leah Secondo calling the action.
SCOUTING THE RETRIEVERS (10-18, 6-9 AE): UMBC looks to solidify the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament on Saturday, by picking up just its second-ever victory in Vestal, N.Y. After winning four-of-five to start off the month of Feb., the Retrievers have dropped two in a row. In its latest contest, UMBC fell, 69-62, to Hartford on its Senior Night at the RAC Arena. The Retrievers had four players score double-digit points, but the Hawks and grabbed 15 offensive boards, leading to 19 second chance points and knocked down 50 percent of its shots in the second half, en route to locking up the second seed in the America East Tournament.
Guard Raven Harris pilots the squad, scoring a conference-best 16.0 points per game during league play. The senior is doing a little bit of everything, ranking atop of the America East in steals (3.4, 1st), assists (3.7, 4th), free throw percentage (.705, 8th) and minutes played per game (33.8, 6th). Harris entered the week ranked eighth in Division I in steals per game (3.52) and became the Retrievers single-season leader in takeaways (96). Classmate Brittany Crowell also made her way into the record books, taking the 10th spot all-time at UMBC in three-point field goals made (84). Crowell shook off a three-game shooting slump by nailing four treys against the Hawks and finishing with a game-high 17 points.
Senior guard Kristin Coles and sophomore forward Ashley Lambert have recently moved into the starting lineup for the Retrievers. The duo are combining for 18.7 points and 11.7 rebounds over the last six games and are shooting 40.4 percent from the field during the span.
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 BEARCATS (5-23, 4-11 AE): Binghamton holds the seventh seed in the tournament with one game to play, but can finish as high as six with a win on Saturday against the Retrievers. The Bearcats have dropped six of their last seven games, including a 61-43 loss to Vermont on Wednesday night. Binghamton shot just 19 percent from the floor in the opening half against the Catamounts. Jasbriell Swain finished with a team-best 13 points and nine assists.
Sherae Swinson is the only Bearcat averaging in double-figures, scoring 10.2 points per game on the season - 10.9 points during league play - and adding 5.1 rebounds a contest. Swain is pulling down a team-best 8.2 boards and is chipping in 8.4 points.
INSIDE THE SERIES: Binghamton holds a 15-6 advantage in the all-time series against the Retrievers. The Bearcats have won three of the last four contests against UMBC, including a 66-57 victory at the RAC Arena on Jan. 30. UMBC guard Raven Harris scored 20 of her career-high 24 points in the second half, but the Retrievers were unable to come back from a pair of Binghamton runs that put them at a 20-point disadvantage.
ON THE HORIZON FOR THE RETRIEVERS: The America East Conference Tournament opens with quarterfinal action on Friday, March 8 at SEFCU Arena in Albany, N.Y. The women's semifinals will take place on Sunday, March 10 and the championship game, which takes place at the home court of the higher seeded team, is set for Saturday, March 16.
