UMBC

Baltimore, Md. – The UMBC Retrievers (0-9) play host to Stony Brook University (1-8) in the Retrievers’ inaugural America East Conference opener on Wednesday, Jan. 7. Game time is set for a 7 p.m. start in the first meeting between the two schools.   

RETRIEVER UPDATE:  The Retrievers received career-high nights from freshman Sharri Rohde and Courtney Doughman, but were unable to stop the inside game of Loyola as the Greyhounds defeated the Retrievers 72-50.  Rohde hit 5-of-9 shots from the field and went 3-of-6 from three-point range en route to 17 points in the game.  Rohde also had a block, two steals and four assists.  Doughman off the bench came into the game and drained four treys to give her a career-high 12 points in 27 minutes of play.  Doughman has been great off the bench for the Retrievers averaging 8.5 ppg over the last two.  Rohde in the last two games is averaging 10.5 ppg and 7.0 rpg.       

SEAWOLVES UPDATE: The Seawolves dropped their fifth straight game last Saturday to non-conference foe Harvard, 72-64, despite 18 points from freshman Mykeema Ford.  Ford was named America East Conference Rookie of the Week after being nearly unstoppable in the Seawolves last three outings, averaging 20.3 points per game on 61.5 percent (24-of-39) shooting from the field, including 53.3 percent (8-of-15) from three-point range.  For the season Jessica Smith leads the team with 11.7 ppg followed by Ford at 10.3 ppg.  Smith also leads the team in rebounding at 8.8 rpg.

Who’s Up Next:  The Retrievers hit the road for the first time in America East as they travel to Hartford on Saturday for a regionally televised game at 12 p.m. in The Chase Family Arena.  The game will air locally on Comcast Sportsnet.  This will be the first of two trips for the Retrievers to Hartford’s home court as the Retrievers will return for the Friendship Cottage Cheese AEC Tournament on Mar. 10-13.

All-time Series vs. Stony Brook:  This will be the first meeting between Stony Brook and UMBC as the Retrievers enter their first year in the America East Conference.  UMBC is an all-time 0-2 vs. current America East schools.

UMBC Hosts First America East Game...The UMBC Retrievers host their first game in the America East Conference when they entertain Stony Brook.  UMBC is in its inaugural season in the AEC, only having played two current teams in its history.  The Retrievers will get their first conference road game on Saturday when they travel to Hartford.

Rookies Tally Career Nights...The combination of Sharri Rohde and Courtney Doughman produced 29 points as each player recorded a career night against the Loyola Greyhounds.  Rohde hit 5-of-9 shots from the field and 3-of-6 three-pointers en route to a game-high 17 points.  Rohde was 4-of-4 from the charity stripe and also recorded a block, two steals and four assists.  Doughman produced off the bench draining four treys to bolster the UMBC offense with 12 points in the game.  

Rhode Hitting The Boards...Freshman Sharri Rohde is emerging on the inside for the Retrievers as the rookie forward recorded her first double-digit night on the boards with 10 rebounds against Radford.  Rohde over the past two games is averaging 7.0 rpg.  Rohde also rejected two shots in the game as she has five blocks on the year.  Over the past two games Rohde is averaging 10.5 points and leads the team in rebounding with 6.1 rpg and ranks third in scoring with 6.6 ppg, shooting 42.9 percent from the field.  

Retrievers Scoring On The Rise...After averaging 39.4 ppg in the first seven contests, the Retrievers’ scoring has started to rise in the last week, averaging 53 points in the last two contests.  UMBC scored 56 against Radford and scored 50 against Loyola. 

Retrievers’ Bench Adds Spark...The Retrievers have been getting some help from its reserves as of late, averaging 16.25 points off the bench in its last four games.  In the previous two games before Radford the UMBC bench scored 19 points in each of the contests.  In the Retrievers latest outing against Loyola, freshman Courtney Doughman hit four treys for a career-high 12 points and classmate Brittnie Hughes scored her first collegiate points with four points in the game.  Doughman in the last five games is averaging 7.4 ppg, coming off the bench in four of those contests and starting one.   

Rookies Coming To Play…The freshman class this season has put together solid numbers for the Retrievers in their debut, averaging 35.6 percent of the Retriever total scoring.  Sharri Rohde, who leads the team in rebounding average at 6.1 rpg, is averaging a team third best 6.6 ppg, including a 17-point night against Loyola.  Heather Luttrell posted a team game-high 11 points in the opener and Courtney Doughman had a career-high night with 12 points off the bench with four treys against Loyola.  Brittnie Hughes, after opening the season with an injury, saw her first action against Radford and netted her first collegiate points against Loyola with four points.   

Santos’ Perfect Streak At The Line Ends...Mariana Santos’ perfect run at the free throw line ended against Loyola as she missed the back end of two free throws.  Santos is 18-of-19 from the free throw line, averaging 94.7 percent from the charity stripe. 

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.   

Keep Me In Coach...Head coach Phil Stern has stuck with some of his players for all 40 minutes in six occasions this season.  In the latest outing for the Retrievers, freshman standout Sharri Rohde went all40 minutes on the floor, scoring 17 points.  Mariana Santos has played all 40 minutes in two games and played 42 of 45 minutes in the overtime game against Radford.  Anastasia Goncharova also has logged 40 minutes on two occasions, scoring 10 points against Navy and 16 at Radford. 

From Down Town…The Retrievers continued their season-long commitment to the three, going 9-of-24 against Loyola.  The Retrievers this season have taken 20-plus shots from outside the arc on six occasions.  Anastasia Goncharova has the Retrievers’ most three-point buckets with 18 on the year.  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 27.9 percent from three-point range. 

Brown Snags Career-High...Sophomore guard Maria Brown stole a career-high six balls versus American earlier this season.  Brown’s six steals were a part of her big defensive effort as she rejected two shots as well.  Brown has five blocks on the season and leads the team with 11 steals.

No Charity Allowed...In the latest NCAA statistics release (games thru Dec. 15), UMBC ranked second in the country in fouls per game at 10.2.  UMBC currently is averaging 11.7 fouls per game.  UMBC finished fifth in the nation last year in fouls per game at 13.5. 

Retrievers In The America East Charts...Freshman Sharri Rohde’s rebounding has her listed in conference charts, ranking fifth in defensive rebounds with 5.22 per game and 10th in overall rebounding at 6.1 per game.  Anastasia Goncharova ranks fourth in three-point percentage at .257.

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 17 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.

Going Global…The Retrievers' 10-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).