BALTIMORE - The UMBC women's basketball team staved off a fighting fourth quarter from the Vermont Catamounts on Saturday afternoon, as the Retrievers picked up the 54-47 victory at the UMBC Event Center. The win gives UMBC a 10-15 record on the year and bumps them into sixth place in the America East standings with a 6-8 conference record. The Catamounts fall to 12-16 overall and seventh in the conference standings with a 6-9 record.

Junior Janee'a Summers (Bound Brook, N.J.) led the Retrievers with a 12 point (4-10 FG, 3-4 FT) and nine rebound day. Freshman Lyric Swann (Elkridge, Md./Long Reach) also reached double-digits as she chipped in 11 points (4-10 FG, 1-1 3FG, 2-2 FT) on the day. Junior Jen Gast (Baltimore, Md./Catonsville) continued her domination on the boards, picking up nine rebounds (five offensive) and added three blocks.

Much like the last matchup between the two schools, it came down to the fourth quarter. As the period started, UMBC held a 16-point lead, 41-25. Vermont slowly began to chip away at the lead, cutting it down to 10, 42-32, with 6:02 to play. After Eryn Fisher (Perth, Australia) bumped the cushion back to 12, the Catamounts went on a 10-0 run to trim all the way down to two, 44-42. The Retrievers were able to pull out the win as down the stretch, redshirt-sophomore O'lesheya Braxton (Paterson, N.J.), senior Lucrezia Costa (Rome, Italy), and sophomore Paula Rubio (Madrid, Spain) all made free throws.

The Retrievers finished the game shooting 26.2 percent (17-65) from the floor - the first time all season they have had a lower shooting percentage than their opponent and walked away with the win; the Catamounts shot 29.5 percent (18-61) for the game.

For the fourth-straight game, the Retrievers have outrebounded their opponent, grabbing 49 boards to the Catamounts 44. UMBC also committed nine turnovers, their lowest output since they won at Lafayette back on December 29. 

The first period got off to a slow start as Vermont scored the first basket of the game at the 6:53 mark. Oliver scored the next four points to give UMBC a 4-2 lead before the Catamounts tied things back up. From there, it was all Retrievers as they went on an 11-2 run, started and ended with baskets from junior Jen Gast (Baltimore, Md./Catonsville). 

In the second quarter, the Retrievers continued their dominant run as they scored the first nine points of the period. Vermont scored its first basket since the 1:40 mark in the first quarter as they scored four-straight with UMBC leading, 24-10, with 3:04 to play. Summers would convert a three-point play before Vermont scored the final basket of the quarter to give UMBC a 27-12 lead heading into halftime. 

The Retrievers shot 40 percent (6-15) in the first half, but only 23.5 percent (4-17) in the second to give them a first half total of 31.2 percent (10-32). However, UMBC held Vermont to under 20 percent shooting (.192) in the first half.

In the third quarter, the Retrievers led by 17 but the Catamounts used an 8-0 run to cut things down to eight, 31-23, with 3:32 to play. The teams exchanged baskets to cut it down to eight again, 33-25, with 1:45 left in the quarter. UMBC then capitalized on a three-point play Braxton to lead 36-25 before Swann launched a three-point jumpshot from the logo to give the Retrievers a 39-25 lead heading into the final period.

UMBC will head out on their final regular-season road trip on Wednesday, February 26 as they travel to take on the Binghamton Bearcats. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.