DURHAM, N.H. - The intensity of the game was evident from the jump. With both the Retrievers and Wildcats entering Saturday's game with a 4-7 conference record, playoff positioning was at the forefront of everyone's mind. Though it was a back and forth battle from the tip, ultimately, UMBC fell 56-51 to New Hampshire moving the Retrievers to 8-15 overall and 4-8 in the America East. New Hampshire moves to 8-16 overall and 5-7 in conference play. 

The team was led by junior Janee'a Summers (Bound Brook, N.J.) who scored a team-high 16 points (7-15 FG) and grabbed eight rebounds in 28 minutes off the bench. Summers was the Retrievers' lone double-digit scorer. Junior Jen Gast (Baltimore, Md./Catonsville) also provided a huge lift for the second unit, scoring five points and hauling down a game-high 12 rebounds in 21 minutes of action. This was Gast's sixth game of the season with ten or more rebounds. 

The Retrievers, who were fresh off consecutive wins against Hartford and UMass Lowell, began the game on fire, converting on eight of their first ten shots. That flame would diminish in the second and third quarters with UMBC shooting only 28.6 percent and 23.1 percent from the field in those respective periods. The team was also hampered by turnovers - the Retrievers committed 21 to the Wildcat's eight. Despite this, UMBC managed to find themselves down only seven points entering the fourth quarter thanks to their stifling defense which held New Hampshire to seven points in the third. UMBC would bring the score within three points late in the game, but the Wildcat's clutch free throw shooting (10-11 for the game) down the stretch would put the game away for good. 

The Wildcats led 41-34 heading into the final quarter of the game. Summers cut it five, 41-36, just seven seconds into the period before New Hampshire went on a 7-0 run to extend its lead to 12, 48-36. But, UMBC went on a mini-spurt of its own, as Gast, senior Te'yJah Oliver (Clinton, Md./Riverdale Baptist), and Summers all chipped in to help bring UNH's lead back down to five, 48-43, with 5:17 to play. The teams exchanged baskets, with the Wildcats only bringing their lead back out to nine, 54-45, with 2:17 left on the clock. Redshirt-sophomore O'lesheya Braxton (Paterson, N.J.) sunk a pair of free throws and freshman Lyric Swan (Elkridge, Md./Long Reach) made a layup to bring the score to 54-51 with eight seconds remaining. However, New Hampshire would make a set of free throws with two seconds remaining to seal the 56-51 win.

The game started back-and-forth for both teams, with UMBC only holding a one-point advantage at the end of the first 10 minutes. Senior Lucrezia Costa (Rome, Italy) scored the first two baskets to give the Retrievers a 4-0 lead before the Wildcats came back to take over, 6-4, with 7:11 to play. Sophomore Eryn Fisher (Perth, Australia) evened things out at 6-all at the 6:47 mark and Gast gave UMBC the 8-6 lead almost two minutes later. The teams exchanged baskets until Summers hit a jumper with ten seconds left to give UMBC a 16-15 lead at the end of the first.

The second quarter started out much like the first, with both teams going back-and-forth until Swann hit a three-point basket to give UMBC a 21-18 lead at the 6:53 mark. The Retrievers held onto their three-point lead until the Wildcats scored two baskets to take a 24-23 lead with 2:47 to play in the first half. Summers and Fisher regained the three-point lead, 27-24, back for UMBC, but UNH ended the quarter scoring five points to take a 29-27 lead into halftime.

In the first half, the Retrievers shot 48.7 percent (11-23) from the floor, compared to the Wildcats' 29.4 percent (10-34). UMBC also outrebounded UNH, 21-15, in the opening 10 minutes.

New Hampshire extended their lead in the opening three minutes of the third quarter, taking an eight-point advantage, 35-27, with 7:02 to play. The Retrievers cut that down to three, 35-32, thanks to baskets from Summers and Oliver. UNH pushed their lead back out to as many as seven in the quarter, taking a 41-34 lead into the fourth quarter.

Overall for the game, the Retrievers shot 42 percent (21-50) from the floor. They also outrebounded the Wildcats, 43-28, with a 28-15 advantage in defensive rebounds. UNH was 10-11 (90.9 percent) from the free throw line to UMBC's 6-9 (66.7 percent).

New Hampshire was led by Ashley Storey who scored a game-high 18 points and pulled in eight rebounds. The Wildcats also received big contributions from Amanda Torres (15 points, 7-7 FT) and Caroline Soucy (12 points). 

The Retrievers will be back on the court on Wednesday, February 19 to kick off a two-game homestand as they welcome the UAlbany Great Danes in their annual "Spread Respect" game. The opening tip is set for 7 p.m.