UMBC

BALTIMORE – UMBC women’s basketball concludes its five-game homestand and looks to snap a two-game losing streak, when it takes on Eastern on Sunday, Nov. 25. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. at the RAC Arena. All the action can be seen live on UMBCRetrievers.tv.  

scouting the retrievers: UMBC, in the midst of a five-game homestand, dropped back-to-back contests going into the Thanksgiving Break. The Retrievers have run into offensive struggles, shooting at a .321 clip during its last two games, including 29.1 percent in Tuesday's loss to Towson, 44-62, in addition to holding a negative 10.6 rebounding margin.

UMBC has four of its five starters averaging in double-digit points, including a team-best 15.6 points per game from sophomore guard Lauren Chase - ranks third in the America East. Chase is also chipping in 5.0 assists per game and 3.8 rebounds. Fellow classmate Bria White notched her first 20-point performance against the Tigers and is putting up 12.4 points per game, after shooting 31.4 percent from beyond the arc this season. Senior guards Brittany Crowell and Raven Harris are adding 11.4 and 11.2 points per game, respectively. Crowell is pulling down a team-best 6.8 rebounds per game, while Harris leads the conference in steals per game, with 3.8 takeaways per contest.

Head coach Phil Stern is in his 11th season at the helm of the Retrievers' program, after leading the black and gold to their second America East Championship game appearance last season. Following the graduation of 59.5 percent of the conference's highest scoring offense in 2011-12, UMBC was tabbed to finish sixth in the league behind Albany (61 votes), Boston University (56 votes), Hartford (54 votes), New Hampshire (37 votes) and Vermont (37 votes).

scouting the EAGLES: Eastern has dropped two-straight after winning its season-opener Rosemont, 77-75. The Eagles fell 64-56 in their home opener against Lancaster Bible College on Nov. 17. Eastern shot 26.7 percent from the field against LBC and connected on 20.7 percent of its shots from beyond the arc. The Eagles allowed Cabrini College to cruise to a 69-49 victory in the Battle of the Eagle Road on Tuesday night. Eastern committed 24 turnovers and gave up 22 offensive rebounds, allowing Cabrini to score 24 points off of turnovers and outscored Eastern 42-16 in the paint.

Sophomore forward Meghan Nowak is piloting the Eagles with 23.7 points and 11.7 rebounds per game, throughout the first three games of the season. Nowak has recorded two double-doubles on the year, despite being held to one point in the first half against Cabrini. Sophomore guard Kaitlyn Dougherty is chipping in double-digit points, averaging 10.7 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.

Former UMBC standout Michele Brokans makes her return to the RAC sidelines, as she serves as an assistant coach under Eastern head coach Nate Davis. 

On the horizon for the retrievers: After five-straight home games, the Retrievers hit the road for three-straight games starting with American on Nov. 27. The Retrievers follow with meetings against Princeton (Dec. 2) and VCU (Dec. 5). UMBC returns home on Dec. 7 to take on Hampton before taking a break for finals. The Retrievers travel to UMES on the 21st before breaking for the holidays.