BALTIMORE - UMBC women's basketball raced back to take a late lead before dropping a 56-54 contest to Brown on Sunday afternoon in Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena.
UMBC trailed by as many as 14 in the first half before fighting all the way back to take a 49-46 lead with 3:55 to play courtesy of a
Kennedy Austin layup. Charlotte Adams-Lopez answered with a triple for Brown to tie the contest, but UMBC was able to retake the lead with 3:15 to play as
Carmen Yánez sunk a pair of free throws to make it 51-49.
The Bears jumped back on top thanks to an Olivia Young basket with 2:31 remaining, followed by a Beth Nelson triple with 1:25 to play, making it 55-51. Alyssa Moreland hit a free throw to push Brown's lead to five before
Dagny Slomack connected from deep to make it a one-possession game with 40 seconds to play. The Retrievers had a chance after Adams-Lopez was called for a charge with 19 seconds left, but
Heidi Williams' three-point try hit the back rim just before the horn sounded.
Slomack was spectacular, exploding onto the scene for the Retrievers with her first 16 points of the season after working her way back from injury. The sophomore transfer from Central Connecticut State hit four threes, scored 10 points in the second quarter, and led the team in scoring in 23 minutes off the bench. The UMBC bench continues to perform, scoring 41 of the team's 54 points with Austin adding 15 more for the Retrievers. Austin is averaging 10.3 points per contest in four games at UMBC after surpassing her previous career-high of 14 tonight.
Defensively, UMBC held Brown to 39.6 percent from the field and 25 percent in the second half. The Retrievers forced 23 turnovers with
Gabby Scott nabbing four steals to lead the effort. Scott was also the team's leading rebounder with seven.
UMBC continues to be automatic at the charity stripe. After shooting a perfect 15-15, the team is shooting nearly 82 percent from the free-throw line this season. Sunday's showing is the top free-throw shooting mark in program history as the Retrievers shot a perfect 14-14 from the line in 1986 against Bucknell.
Brown improves to 3-2 all-time against the Retrievers, winning the three most recent matchups. Adams-Lopez led the way with 14 points while Moreland added a double-double (13 points, 14 rebounds).
UMBC returns to action on Wednesday afternoon in Princess Anne, Md. as it takes on Maryland Eastern Shore at 12 p.m.
