BALTIMORE - UMBC women's basketball cut a 20-point third quarter deficit to one point late in the final minute of play, but fell, 74-71, to visiting Hartford at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena.
Graduate student guard Jatarrikah Settle (Frederick, Md.) had a chance to tie the score at 72-all, but rimmed out the second of two free throws with 13.1 seconds left. Hartford snared the rebound, broke UMBC's press and hit a layup with 5.5 seconds remaining. Graduate student guard Danae Marquez' (Fresno, Calif.) 30-footer just before the buzzer was partially blocked and fell short of the basket.

Marquez led UMBC and finished two points shy of her season high with 16 points. Junior guard Keelah Dixon (Boston, Mass.) added 15 points and graduate student forward Onome-Juliet Esadah (Warri, Delta State, Nigeria) recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

UMBC trailed, 56-36, midway through third quarter.

The women's basketball program honored graduate students and seniors Jasmine Braswell (Ashburn, Va.), Janee'a Summers (Bound Brook ,N.J.), Settle, Esadah, and Marquez in pregame ceremonies.

HOW IT HAPPENED  
·       The Hawks came out strong, hitting five of their first nine shots from the floor and building a 12-7 lead with 2:22 to play in the first quarter.
·       Dixon came off the bench and scored on a pair of driving layups to cut the lead to one point on two occasions, but the Hawks scored the final six points of the quarter and led, 20-13 after 10 minutes.  
·       The Hawks extended the run to 10-0 and built a 25-13 lead at the 8:17 mark of the second quarter.
·       Hartford knocked down 17 of its first 26 shots from the floor and 7-of-11 from beyond the arc to grab a 43-24 lead with 3:44 to play in the first half.
·       Esadah did dominate the interior in the second quarter, scoring six points and winding up with 8 for the half. Dixon led UMBC with 10 first half points.
·       Hartford's Abby Streeter scored 20 first half points, hitting 6 of her first 9 shots from behind the arc and the Hawks took a 46-32 lead into halftime.
·       Sparked by a trey and jumper by Marquez in the final minute of the third period, UMBC scored the final eight points of the frame and cut a 17-point deficit to 60-51 after 30 minutes.
·       UMBC got to within 63-58 on a Marquez trey with 7:59 remaining, but Streeter came back nine seconds later with a matching trey.  
·       Dixon's traditional three-point play cut the deficit to 71-70 with 16.8 seconds left. Hartford hit one of two free throws with 14.3 seconds left, but fouled Settle on the rebound to give the Retrievers a chance to         tie.
Junior forward Haile McDonald (Winchester, Va.) sparked UMBC with five points and three rebounds as they were making their second half rally.

The Retrievers will play a pair of games at Maine on Saturday and Sunday before concluding the regular season at Binghamton on Wednesday, March. 2.