BALTIMORE - The UMBC women's basketball earned a huge America East win on Saturday afternoon after upending the second-place UMass Lowell River Hawks, 65-52. Coming into the game, the River Hawks had only two conference losses on the season - both to the league-leading Stony Brook Seawolves.

UMBC earned its second-straight conference win to move to 4-7 and 8-14 overall on the year. UMass Lowell falls to 12-12 on the season and 8-3 in America East play. 

Senior Te'yJah Oliver (Clinton, Md./Riverdale Baptist) was one of three Retrievers to reach double-digits on the afternoon, scoring a game-high 23 points after shooting 53.3 percent (8-15) from the field and 55.5 percent (5-9) from three-point range. With her 23 points, Oliver has 413 on the season, making her the 20th player in program history to reach the 400-point mark in a season; she is the first since Taylor McCarley (479) and Pandora Wilson (453) broke the mark during the 2015-16 season. 

Sophomore Paula Rubio (Madrid, Spain) chipped in 14 points, followed by freshman Lyric Swan (Elkridge, Md./Long Reach) who put up 10.

The Retrievers came out fighting in the first quarter, holding the River Hawks to seven points on 20 percent shooting from the floor (3-15). It took some time to find a rhythm for either team as Rubio scored the first basket at the 7:48 mark to start a 9-1 run for UMBC. The River Hawks cut it as close as six, 11-5, with 3:47 to go but the Retrievers were able to push the lead back to 10 to take a 17-7 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

Rubio was quick to extend the lead to 15, 22-7, for UMBC, but a short 5-0 spurt by UMass Lowell shortened it to 10 with 7:09 to play. The teams traded baskets, with the River Hawks cutting the lead to seven, 27-20, with 1:28 to play in the first half. UMBC finished the half on a 5-0 spurt, with Swann hitting a three-point jumper buzzer shot to give the Retrievers a 32-20 lead at the half.

In the first half, the Retrievers held the River Hawks to 26.5 percent shooting (9-34) and just one three-point basket. UMBC also outrebounded UMass Lowell, 25-15, in the first 20 minutes. Oliver and Rubio were a combined 8-12 from the floor and scored 20 of UMBC's 32 points. 

In the third quarter, the numbers were even as both teams scored 15 points and were 6-18 from the field. The River Hawks opened the period with a three-pointer to cut the deficit to nine, 32-23. The teams went back-and-forth, with UMass Lowell getting the lead down to eight, 41-33, with 2:21 to play. The Retrievers used a 6-0 late in the quarter to take a 47-33 lead before the River Hawks capped off the quarter with a layup.

UMBC was able to extend its lead to 14 in the fourth quarter, thanks to baskets from senior Lucrezia Costa (Rome, Italy), Oliver, and Swann. But, back-to-back three-points from UMass Lowell trimmed the lead to eight, 53-45, with 5:19 to play, but that would be as close as the River Hawks would get. Costa and Rubio combined to send the Retrievers on a 6-2 run to take a 59-47 lead with 2:07 to play in the game. UMass Lowell once again cut the lead to single-digits, 59-50, but a 6-0 run at the end of the period sealed the win for UMBC.

Overall for the game, the Retrievers were 24-56 from the floor (42.9 percent) and 7-16 from three-point range (43.8 percent), while making 83.3 percent of their free throws (10-12). UMBC outrebounded UMass Lowell, 53-33, including a 43-23 advantage in defensive rebounds. 

Costa and junior Jen Gast (Baltimore, Md./Catonsville) led the rebounding charge for the Retrievers, pulling down 10 each (one offensive, nine defensive). Junior Janee'a Summers (Bound Brook, N.J.) corralled eight rebounds to go along with eight points. In addition to her 14 points, Rubio dished out a game-high seven assists. 

Jaliena Sanchez and Kharis Idom each scored 14 points for the River Hawks.

The Retrievers will return to the court on Saturday, February 15 when they travel to take on the New Hampshire Wildcats in Durham.