BURLINGTON, Vt. - UMBC fell to top-seeded Vermont, 68-65, in double overtime in the Air Force Reserve America East Semifinals on Monday evening inside Patrick Gymnasium.
The Retrievers very nearly completed a second straight furious comeback in the tournament, falling behind by 12 early in the third quarter before racing back to force overtime.
Trailing 50-48 after Jadyn Weltz drained a pair of free throws with less than three seconds left,
Jade Tillman received the inbound, drove baseline, and made the reverse layup at the buzzer to send the game to an extra period.
In overtime, UMBC took a 58-56 lead with 15 seconds remaining as Tillman went one-for-two at the charity stripe after making a layup with 32 seconds left to give UMBC a one-point lead. The missed free throw allowed the Catamounts to look for a two, and Keira Hanson knocked down a pull-up jumper with just over two seconds left in the extra period.
Vermont built a four-point lead in double overtime, but a
Heidi Williams free throw and a Tillman bucket with 2:15 to play pulled the Retrievers within one. Vermont would outscore UMBC 4-2 over the final 1:52, holding onto a 68-65 victory to send it to the America East Championship.
Tillman was phenomenal for the Retrievers, setting a new career-high with 32 points. She added 10 rebounds, two assists, and one steal.
Tiara Bellamy scored nine points, pulled down seven rebounds, and nabbed three steals for UMBC.
Kennedy Austin contributed six points, four rebounds, and four steals before fouling out.
NOTES TO KNOW
- After falling behind 32-23 at halftime, UMBC held Vermont to just 18 points in the third and fourth quarters to force overtime.
- Tillman finished the season with three straight double-doubles and a 23-game streak with 10 or more points. Tillman moved into the top-10 on the UMBC single-season scoring list, finishing the season with 476 points. With 10 free throws made tonight, Tillman moved into sixth all-time in UMBC history with 124 free throws. She finishes third in free-throw percentage at 86.1 percent.
- Carmen Yánez finishes 12th on the all-time assists list with 280 dimes.
