BALTIMORE - The fourth-seeded UMBC women's basketball team advanced to the 2023 Jersey Mike's America East Semifinals with an 82-71 victory over the No.5 seeded NJIT Highlanders on Wednesday evening at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena. The Retrievers will travel to top-seeded Vermont on Sunday afternoon and participate in their first conference semifinal since 2015.

UMBC (14-14) graduate student guard Keelah Dixon (Boston, Mass.) scored a game-high 21 points and added five assists to lead five Retrievers in double-figures. Graduate student forward Kiara Bell (Santa Rosa, Calif.) recorded a double-double of 12 points and a game-high 15 rebounds while adding a career-best six steals. Graduate student guard KK White (Indianapolis, In.) chipped in with 17 points while graduate student guard Ashia McCalla (Greenbelt, Md.) and sophomore guard Laycee Drake (Hancock, N.Y.) scored 10 points each.

It was the first ever home victory in an America East Quarterfinal for the Retrievers.

How it Happened:

• Bell started off on fire, going off for seven points and four rebounds in the first five plus minutes as UMBC turned a 4-4 game into an 11-6 advantage midway through the frame.
• NJIT cut the deficit to 13-11, but Dixon would catch on fire, capping a run with a pair of threes to give the Retrievers a 27-19 lead after the first ten minutes.
• Dixon led all scorers with 10 points in the first quarter
• UMBC again turned on the jets, taking a game-best 12 point lead, at 37-25 after an  McCalla bucket and a Scoop Smith (Pemberton Township, N.J.) free throw. 
• The Highlanders would then go on a 7-0 run to cut the Retrievers lead to 37-32, but Drake (Hancock, N.Y.) hit a late three to send UMBC into the break up 40-32.
• Bell had seven points, eight rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block in the first half.
• The teams turned up the defensive intensity to start the second half, with seven combined turnovers in the first 2:30, but White scored four points in that time to push the UMBC lead to 44-32.
• Nia Staples (Cincinnati, Oh.) scored on a fast break moments later to give the Retrievers a game-high 14 point lead.
• NJIT responded with five straight points, but UMBC answered right back with a jumper from Dixon and a three-point play from McCalla.
• Dixon then drained a three to put the Retrievers up 54-37 with under three minutes to go, and UMBC would take a 58-44 lead into the final frame.
• The teams traded buckets to start the fourth, but Dixon and White would hit back-to-back layups to push the lead to 68-52 with 5:48 left and force the Highlanders to call timeout.
• Paloma Iradier (Santander, Spain) received a great pass on a fast break from Drake to give the Retrievers a 78-61 lead with 2:30 to go and put the game out of reach.
• UMBC shot 43.7 percent overall (31-of-71) and were 5-for-14 (35.7 percent) from behind the arc. The Retrievers also made 15-of-20 free throws.
• The Highlanders hit 23-of-57 field goals (40.4 percent) and were 4-of-12 from behind the arc.

The Retrievers will look to snap top-seeded Vermont's 15 game winning-streak on Sunday at 1 p.m. The Catamounts last loss was a 58-57 home loss to UMBC on New Years Day.