BALTIMORE - It was madness in the final 2:30 minutes of the UMBC women's basketball's annual Midday Madness game, but the Retrievers were able to hold off the Hartford Hawks for a 61-54 victory in front of 2,812 fans on Wednesday afternoon.

UMBC moves to 5-12 on the season and 1-5 in America East play. Hartford falls to 0-19 on the year and 0-6 in conference contests.

A trio of Retrievers reached double-digits on the day, led by junior forward Janee'a Summers (Bound Brook, N.J.) who posted her fifth double-double of the season and 13th of her career with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Senior guard Te'yJah Oliver (Clinton, Md./Riverdale Baptist) chipped in 24 points and tied her career-high with nine rebounds; freshman guard Lyric Swann (Elkridge, Md./Long Reach) put up 14 points.

The Retrievers entered the final quarter with a 44-29 lead, but the Hawks fired off a 7-0 run to close the gap to nine, 44-37. Swann extended the lead back to 11, 50-39, right before the media timeout; but, Hartford unleashed a 12-2 spurt, hitting three consecutive three-point baskets. to cut the lead to just one, 52-51, with 2:02 to play. Senior forward Lucrezia Costa (Rome, Italy) gave the Retrievers a 54-51 advantage with 1:30 to play before the Hawks counteracted to cut the lead back down to one, 54-53.
Swann scored the next four points for the Retrievers to give them a five-point cushion, 58-53, with 20 seconds remaining on the clock. The Hawks put up one of two free throw shots with nine seconds left and fouled Summers, who split a pair of shots. Hartford missed a layup with five seconds on the clock and as time ran out, Oliver was fouled and sank both free throws to seal the win. 

The Hawks outscored the Retrievers, 26-17, in the fourth quarter; in the first three quarters, Hartford scored a combined 28 points. 

Hartford scored the first four points of the game before UMBC opened a 6-0 run to take an 8-4 lead with 6:36 on the clock. Both teams were quiet for most of the first quarter, as Hartford scored the next basket at the 4:01 mark; but Summers scored the last five points to give UMBC a 13-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Hawks came close in the second quarter, cutting the Retriever lead to 13-10 at the 8:03 point. Oliver and senior guard Dominika Skrocka (Moscow, Russia) hit back-to-back three-pointers to give UMBC a 19-10 advantage with 4:20 to play. Hartford cut UMBC's lead down to seven twice, but the Retrievers scored seven points at the end of the quarter to take a 28-14 lead at halftime.

UMBC continued to extend its lead in the third quarter, leading by as much as 19. Hartford cut the lead down to 14 at three points in the quarter, but saw the hosts answer every basket. Oliver put an exclamation point on the period as she made a layup as the buzzer sounded to give the Retrievers a 44-28 lead heading into the final quarter.

The Retrievers outshot the Hawks, 38.2 percent (23-60) to 29.4 percent (20-68). Despite Hartford hitting four three-pointers in the fourth quarter, UMBC had a higher field goal percentage from behind the arc, making 36.4 percent of their shots compared to Hartford's 27.3 percent. The Retrievers missed one free throw the entire game (11-12), giving them a 91.7 percentage on the day. 

In addition to her 24 points, Oliver added four assists and two steals on the day. Junior forward Jen Gast led the team in rebounds, bringing down a game-high 13, while Swann brought down a career-high five.

Carmen Villalobos led the Hawks with 16 points on the day. 

The Retrievers will close out the month of January on the road as they travel to Maine for a Sunday, January 26 showdown with the Black Bears. The opening tip is scheduled for 1 p.m.