West Hartford, Conn.-- No. 7 UMBC women's basketball kept it close for a majority of the game, leading for over nine minutes in the first half, but could not overcome a strong shooting performance from No. 2 Hartford in a 65-48 loss in the America East Quarterfinals. Sophomore Janee'a Summers (Bound Brook, N.J.) and junior Te'yJah Oliver (Clinton, Md./Riverdale Baptist) led the way with 13 points each in the loss.

The Retrievers end their season at 10-20 while the Hawks improve to 22-9 on the year.

UMBC got out to a hot start shooting 50 percent from the floor over the first five minutes. Janee'a Summers got things going with a three. After the Hawks retook the lead, Te'yJah Oliver and Paula Rubio (Madrid, Spain) hit back-to-back threes to give UMBC the lead back 11-7 at the media timeout. Hartford would respond by cutting the deficit to within two, but O'lesheya Braxton (Paterson, N.J.) answered back with a layup to give UMBC a 13-11 lead after one.

The Hawks would retake the lead early in the second, holding the Retrievers scoreless for nearly four minutes before Dominika Skrocka nailed a corner three to end the drought. Hartford, however, would end the half on a 7-0 run capped by a Lindsey Abed buzzer beater to take a 31-21 lead into the break.

Oliver lead the Retrievers with eight points in the opening 20 minutes with Braxton chipping in four.

The Retrievers came out of the locker room on fire from the floor, using a 5-1 run to cut the deficit to just six. Back-to-back layups from Summers and Braxton whittled it down to five before the Hawks would extend the lead. UMBC never wavered in the third, cutting the Hawk lead to just 43-39 heading into the fourth.

However, the Hawks would open the quarter on a 6-0 run to extend the lead back to double digits. The Retrievers would keep the deficit around eight for most of the fourth quarter, but a late charge pushed the Hawks ahead by double digits as they move on to the semifinals with a 65-48 win on Wednesday night.

Summers and Oliver each had 13 points to lead the Retrievers, with Summer chipping in eight rebounds. Braxton added 10 points and eight rebounds in the loss.

Lindsey Abed led the Hawks with a game-high 21 points in the win.