UMBC

Baltimore, Md. – The UMBC Retrievers (0-8) play host to local rival Loyola (4-6) in the Retrievers final non-conference game of the year on Saturday night at UMBC RAC Arena.  Game time is set for a 7 p.m. start.   

RETRIEVER UPDATE:  The Retrievers came close to end their opening season slide, taking Radford to overtime but were unable to grab their first win of the year as the Highlanders hit eight-straight free throws in the remaining minutes to take a 64-56 victory over UMBC.  In the game UMBC, who trailed by two at the half, 28-26, came back from a nine-point deficit to tie the game at 50-50 and send the contest into the extra period.  Anastasia Goncharova scored a team-high 16 points while Maria Brown added a career-high 12 and Mariana Santos tallied 10, giving the Retrievers three players in double digits.  Sharri Rohde grabbed 10 rebounds for a career high in that category as she is averaging 7.3 rpg over the past three games.   

GREYHOUND UPDATE: The Greyhounds snapped a four-game losing streak with their fourth win of the season in the consolation game of the Lafayette Invitational by defeating the host Lafayette, 78-51.  The duo of Katie Scherle and Lauren Troupe led the way for the Greyhounds as Scherle scored 14 points and Troupe tallied 11.  Bench played also played big in the Greyhounds win as the reserves scored 39 points.  Troupe leads the team with 11.5 ppg.  In the opening round game the tournament the Greyhounds lost to Liberty 70-62. 

Who’s Up Next:  The Retrievers begin their first year in the America East Conference when they host Stony Brook at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 7 in UMBC RAC Arena.

All-time Series vs. Loyola:  The Retrievers and Greyhounds have met on 27 different occasions dating back to 1972-73.  UMBC won the first three games before the Greyhounds rattled off nine-consecutive victories over the Retrievers.  UMBC and Loyola have met in each of the last five seasons with the Greyhounds winning each one as they have taken the last seven meetings with the Retrievers.  UMBC’s last win came in 1990-91 and have not beat the Greyhounds at home since the 1989-90 season. 

First Game Of The New Year…The Retrievers will be looking to turn their misfortunes to start the season around as their game against Loyola marks the first of the New Year.  Last year the Retrievers beat American to open up the 2003 part of their schedule with a 56-47 victory on Jan. 4. 

UMBC Closes Out Non-Conference Slate...The Retrievers will close out their non-conference portion of the 2003-04 season with local rival Loyola on Saturday.  UMBC will open with league play the following Wednesday when they host Stony Brook in their first America East game.

Rhode Hitting The Boards...Freshman Sharri Rohde is emerging on the inside for the Retrievers as the rookie forward record her first double-digit night on the boards with 10 rebounds against Radford.  Rohde over the past three games is averaging 7.3 rpg.  Rohde also rejected two shots in the game as she has four blocks in her career.  Over the past five games Rohde is averaging 5.8 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.  Rohde leads the team in rebounding with 6.4 rpg and ranks fourth in scoring with 5.3 ppg, shooting 40 percent from the field.  

From Down Town…The Retrievers woes from behind the arc continued against Radford as the team was only able to convert 6-of-27 from three-point range.  27 attempted three-pointers is the most by the Retrievers this season and their fifth game they have taken 20-plus shots from outside the arc.  Anastasia Goncharova has the Retrievers’ most three-point buckets with 18 on the year, shooting 27.3 percent from three-point land.  Goncharova scored a game-high 18 points in the loss to No. 13 North Carolina.  Goncharova hit six treys in the game.  Goncharova buried four more three-pointers against Iona to lead the Retrievers in scoring with 12 points in that game.  As a team the Retrievers are shooting 26.6 percent from three-point range. 

Retrievers’ Bench Adds Spark...The Retrievers have been getting some help from its reserves as of late, averaging 16 points off the bench in its last three games.  In the previous two games before Radford the UMBC bench scored 19 points in each of the contests and against the Highlanders the Retrievers received a combined 10 points.  Against American junior transfer Katie Tedder and freshman Courtney Doughman combined to score all 19 bench-points.  Tedder went 3-of-4 from the field and 4-of-5 from the free throw line for 10 points in 18 minutes and Doughman went 3-of-6 from three-point land for nine points. Against Maryland a combination of Mariana Santos (seven points), Anastasia Goncharova (six points) along with three points from Betsy Butterick and Tedder helped the Retrievers reach 19. 

Retrievers Throw Block Party...Despite an average height of 5’9”, the Retrievers have not let that stop them from rejecting shots as they recorded a season-high five blocks against American.  Sophomore Maria Brown recorded her second two-block game of the season and her fourth and fifth blocks over a three game span with two against American.  Sharri Rohde added two blocks to the team total against Radford with two rejections in that contest.  Brown leads the team with five blocks as the Retrievers have recorded 12 rejections on the season. 

Brown Snags Career-High...Maria Brown continued to show up on the defensive end against American, stealing a single-game career-high six balls.  Brown also recorded two blocks in the game as she has five on the season.    The sophomore guard has hampered opposing guards as well.  Against Towson, Brown limited Tigers’ leading scorer Kacy O’Brien (entered the game averaging 18.3 ppg) to one point on the night and 0-for-6 from the field.  Against Navy in the previous game, Brown mirrored Courtney Davidson, who helped the Midshipmen run out to an early lead in the first half with 14 points in the opening stanza, as the Retrievers went to a box and one defense in the second half.  Brown held Davidson without a shot for the first 15 minutes of the second period as the Retrievers closed their 13-point deficit to two before a late Midshipmen run ended the Retrievers come-from-behind win.  Brown leads the team in steals and blocks.

Rookies Coming To Play…The freshman class this season has put together solid numbers for the Retrievers in their debut, averaging 31.0 percent of the Retriever total scoring.  Sharri Rohde, who leads the team in rebounding average at 6.4 rpg, is averaging a team fourth best 5.3 ppg.  Heather Luttrell posted a team game-high 11 points in the opener and Courtney Doughman had a career-high night with nine points off the bench with three treys against American. 

Santos Stays Perfect From The Line...Mariana Santos continued to stay perfect from free throw line, going 1-for-1 from the charity stripe against Radford.  Santos has hit 14-of-14 free throws on the season. 

Getting The Nod…Head Coach Phil Stern has started freshman Sharri Rohde in all of the team’s games thus far, making her and teammate Maria Brown the only two to start every game.  Fellow freshman Heather Luttrell broke into the starting lineup for the first time at UNC and against Maryland Courtney Doughman got the start as three rookies opened the game on the floor for UMBC.   

Rohde Nears First Double-Double...Freshman standout Sharri Rohde almost got her first double-double of the year against Navy as she tallied nine points and eight rebounds.  Rohde leads the Retrievers in rebounding average (6.4) and is averaging 7.3 boards in the last three games.  Rohde recorded a career high with 10 rebounds against Radford. 

Hitting The Airwaves…UMBC will be featured on the airwaves a couple times this season.  The Retrievers make their first appearance with a TV game on Saturday, Jan. 10 when they play Hartford at 12 p.m. on Comcast Sportsnet.  WJFK-AM, THE JOCK will broadcast the first end of a men and women's doubleheader on Wed., Feb. 4 as veteran broadcasters Gary Stein and Paul Mittermeier will handle the play-by-play and analyst duties respectively.  The Retrievers women's hoops can also be caught on Teamline on six different occasions.  Teamline can be accessed through the basketball home page and is a free service provided by UMBC Athletics. 

Stern Carries Color Commentary...Head coach Phil Stern carried the color commentary at the UMBC men’s basketball game against Princeton University back on Dec. 2 at UMBC RAC Arena.  Stern joined play-by-play man Gary Stein on the airwaves.   Stern is a master of the famed Princeton-style offense and gave substantial in depth insight into the system of play during WJFK’s broadcast. 

Phil Stern Era Moves Into Second Season…Head coach Phil Stern has begun the second season in his tenure at the helm of the Retriever women's hoops program.  Stern in his first season took the Retrievers to the conference title game for the first-time ever and posted a 14-16 record.  Stern, known to revitalize struggling programs, continues to build for the future, bringing in six newcomers this year and signing three to National Letters of Intent for the 2004-05 campaign. 

Retrievers New Beast In The America East…The Retrievers will make their first appearance in the America East this season as UMBC moves into the conference with all its 20-intercollegiate sports.  Prior to this year, UMBC spent five seasons in the Northeast Conference and six in the Big South Conference.  At the end of last season, the America East had a Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) of 23 compared to 31 held by the NEC (second lowest).  The America East’s current RPI for this season is ninth in the country.

Starting From Scratch…With the departure of all-five starters from last year's squad, Phil Stern will be looking for players to step up into the starting role this year.  Out of the six returning players, the Retrievers have a total of 26 starts combined prior to the start of the 2003-04 campaign, an average of 4.33 starts per player.  Matea Pender returns with the most total starts after earning the nod in 18 games her freshman year in 2001-02 before sitting out last season with a knee injury.  Anastasia Goncharova has the most starts under head coach Phil Stern with four last year in 27 games played.  

UMBC Picked 10th in Preseason Conference Poll…UMBC was picked to finish in last place in the preseason conference polled release by the America East Conference.  Maine was a unanimous pick for the top spot receiving nine first place votes.  Boston University was selected second followed by Vermont.  UMBC, who is entering their first season in the AEC, did not place anyone on the preseason all-conference team.

No Charity Allowed...Despite putting Radford on the line 24 times in their latest outing, the Retrievers have kept their hands to themselves averaging 11.5 fouls per game.  As of games thru Dec. 15, UMBC ranked second in the country in fouls per game.  UMBC finished fifth in the nation last year in fouls per game at 13.5. 

Going Global…The Retrievers' 12-player roster contains three international players.  The team's lone senior Mariana Santos is from Brazil while sophomore Matea Pender is a native of Croatia and junior Anastasia Goncharova is from Russia.  In addition to players from the around the world, the majority of UMBC's squad is from outside the state lines.  Maria Brown (Frederick, Md.) and Tyecia Powell (Baltimore, Md.) are the Retrievers' women's hoops only Maryland natives.

Retrievers Ink Three For 2004-05…UMBC head women's basketball coach Phil Stern announced the signings of three student-athletes to National Letters of Intent to attend UMBC for the 2004-05 academic year.  The list includes Indiana natives Kristin Drabyn (Avon, Ind./Avon) and Jennifer Ferguson (Fremont, Ind./Fremont) along with local talent Morgan Hatten (Potomac, Md./Winston Churchill).