LOWELL, Mass. - The UMBC women's basketball closed out the opening weekend of America East play at UMass Lowell on Sunday afternoon, falling to the River Hawks by a score of 75-64. 

The River Hawks move to 6-9 overall and 2-0 in conference play, while the Retrievers fall to 4-9 on the year and 0-2 in conference games.

Three Retrievers hit double-digits on the day, led by junior Janee'a Summers (Bound Brook, N.J.) who notched her third double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Senior Te'yJah Oliver (Clinton, Md./Riverdale Baptist) notched 16 points and two assists; the guard is now 20th all-time in program history with 1,037 points and 15th with 202 assists. Freshman Lyric Swann (Elkridge, Md./Long Reach) also posted double-digits with 11 points on the day.

In the first quarter, the River Hawks opened an early 10-4 lead before Oliver cut it to three with her first of four three-point baskets of the day. After UMass Lowell went up 15-7 with 5:33 to play, Summers converted two free throws to cut the lead back down to six. The teams exchanged baskets until the end of the first quarter, where O'lesheya Braxton (Paterson, N.J.) hit two free shots to cut UMass Lowell's lead to 24-15.

UMass Lowell opened the second quarter with two quick baskets to take a 28-15 lead before Jen Gast (Baltimore, Md./Catonsville) put up a bucket for UMBC at the 8:21 mark. The teams held each other scoreless for almost three minutes before the River Hawks broke the drought to take a 30-17 lead with 5:50 on the clock. The Retrievers used a 6-0 run, with baskets from Eryn Fisher (Perth, Australia) and Oliver, to help cut the deficit to 33-25 with 2:35 remaining in the first half before the River Hawks extended the lead back to 10. Oliver and Summers each hit threes late in the period, but UMass Lowell took a 43-31 lead into the locker rooms.

In the third quarter, UMass Lowell took a 14-point lead but UMBC was able to whittle it down nine after Braxton and Summers each went 2-2 from the charity stripe. However, the River Hawks used a 15-6 run, including a 10-0 run over the course of three minutes, to take a 62-44 lead into the final ten minutes of the game; all six of the Retrievers points were scored by Braxton and Summers.

The final quarter saw the teams exchange baskets, with UMBC cutting UMass Lowell's lead down to 12, 68-56, with 4:40 on the clock and again, 70-58, with 2:40 left to play. The River Hawks would extend their lead back to 17 before Lucrezia Costa (Rome, Italy) and Oliver cut it to 13; Swann closed out the game, hitting a pair of free throws for the Retrievers, giving the final score of 75-64.

UMBC outshined UMass Lowell in shooting percentage (46.0 percent to 41.4 percent), three-point percentage (46.2 percent to 28.6 percent), and free throw percentage (85.7 percent to 47.4 percent). However, the River Hawks dominated rebounds, 44 to 31, and outscored the Retrievers, 30-9, in points off the bench.

Kharis Idom (15 pts, 11 rebs) and Tiahna Sears (17 pts, 10 rebs) led the River Hawks. Jaliena Sanchez dished out five assists on the day.

The Retrievers return home to the UMBC Event Center on Wednesday, January 8 as they host the BInghamton Bearcats in a 7 p.m. contest. Tickets can be purchased at tickets.umbc.edu.