In their first home contest of the season, the UMBC women's basketball team (0-3, 0-1 AE) fell in their America East conference opener, 66-56, to the UAlbany Great Danes (2-2, 1-0 AE) on Saturday, December 19.

The Retrievers were led by CCBC Essex-trasnfer Mya Moye (Washington, D.C.) with 13 points (4-12 FG, 2-7 3FG, 3-4 FT), followed by Lyric Swann (Elkridge, Md./Long Reach) with 11 points (4-10 FG, 2-3 3FG) and Juliet Esadah (Henrico, Va.) with 10 points (4-7 FG, 2-2 FT). 

The Great Danes got off to a 5-0 start in the first quarter before the Retrievers saw Moye put up a three-pointer at the 6:05 mark, followed by a jumper from Esadah to tie the game up. UAlbany then used a six-point run to retake the lead, 11-5, before Swann and senior Janee'a Summers (Bound Brook, N.J.) put up two three-pointers to cap off the quarter with UAlbany leading, 13-11.

The second quarter was back-and-forth through the first few minutes, with the game tied at 15-all at the 6:35 mark thanks to a pair of free throws from Esadah. The game was quiet after UAlbany took a 19-16 at the 5:37 mark; the Retrievers would score with 4:04 on the clock after Alexia Nelson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) converted a pair of shots from the charity stripe to cut the score to 19-18. The final three minutes of the quarter was a seesaw between the teams, but UAlbany ultimately took a 32-23 lead into halftime.

Immediately out of the gate in the third quarter, Swann put up six points, including a three-point jumper to help put the Retrievers within four, 32-28. After the Great Danes extended the lead back to six, 36-30, Esadah hit a layup and Summers put up a big three to close the gap to one, 36-35, with 6:18 on the clock. UAlbany scored four-straight points but Moye and Jada Clowers (Macon, Ga.) fought back to keep the lead limited to one, 40-39, at the 3:51 mark. The Great Danes scored five of the final points at the end of the quarter to counteract Moye's free throws to take a 45-41 lead into the final ten minutes.

Summers cut the lead to two, 45-43, just 8 seconds into the quarter and Moye sent a three-point basket in to balance two quick baskets from UAlbany to cut the lead back to one, 47-46 at the nine-minute mark. Both teams were quite for almost three minutes before UAlbany put up seven-straight points to take a 54-46 lead with 5:08 to play. Swann added a bucket but the Great Danes continued to grow their lead, 59-48, with 2:35 to play. Moye and former CCBC Essex teammate Kasey Gagan (Warwick, R.I.) each had baskets, but the remainder of the game saw free throws down the stretch for both teams.

On the day, the Retrievers outshot the Great Danes, 46.7 percent to 26.3 percent beyond the arc and had ten steals compared to UAlbany's six. On the boards, UAlbany brought down 44 to UMBC's 36 and had three blocked shots.

The Retrievers and Great Danes will be back in action on Sunday, December 20 from the UMBC Event Center for game two of their series. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.