BALTIMORE - UMBC women's basketball played smothering defense in the first half and caught fire offensively in the second half in a 79-53 victory over Mount St. Mary's on Thursday night in the America East Metro Challenge.
The Retrievers took a 33-20 halftime lead, holding Mount St. Mary's to just 26 percent from the field in the first half, before shooting a smoldering 65 percent from the floor in the third quarter to build a 27-point advantage.
"I'm proud of our group," said head coach
Candice Hill. "I'm proud of how locked in they've been, and I'm excited to see us continue to play defense. The exciting thing this year is we're not just playing defense, we're converting it into offense. As a coach, I'm just proud because these are the things we've worked on. To see it come alive is a great thing."
Angela Williams led all scorers with 19 points in the victory, shooting eight-for-12 from the floor.
Dagny Slomack set a Retriever career-high with 17 points off the bench, knocking down five triples in the contest. Preseason All-America East selection
Heidi Williams continued an impressive start to the season, stuffing the stat sheet with 12 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, two steals, and a block in the win. The double-double is the fourth of her career.
Alaina Williams chipped in 10 points, seven rebounds, and three steals, making it back-to-back games to open the season with all three Williams "sisters" scoring in double figures.
The Retrievers opened the game on a 15-2 run over the first 5:30, getting four points each from An. Williams and Al. Williams. A jumper from An. Williams pushed UMBC's lead to 16 at the 6:21 mark of the second quarter before the Mount trimmed the gap to eight with 2:40 left in the half. UMBC would score the next six points before a Mountaineer free throw from Valentina Saric ended the short spurt and sent the game to halftime with UMBC on top 33-20.
A
Kennedy Austin put-back with 7:13 on the third-quarter clock bumped UMBC's lead up to 18 before a Slomack three at the four-minute mark finally pushed the UMBC lead to 20. UMBC would outscore Mount St. Mary's 13-6 over the final four minutes, taking a 27-point edge into the final quarter.
UMBC once again won the turnover battle, forcing 23 turnovers and coming away with 14 steals, while turning it over just 14 times in the contest. All three Williams, Slomack, Austin, and
Syd Sutton had multiple steals for the Retrievers.
UMBC heads to Connecticut to face Quinnipiac on Sunday evening in the second game of the AE-Metro Challenge. Tip is scheduled for 2 p.m.
