UMBC

The UMBC women’s basketball team finishes its road trip with Northeastern University on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.  The Retrievers will be meeting the Huskies for the first time.

RETRIEVER UPDATE:  The Retrievers played the first of two games on the road in Boston this week, falling to Boston U., 72-53.  The Retrievers got off to a slow start in the game as the Terriers jumped out to a 9-0 lead and held a 32-19 lead at the break.  The Retrievers closed the gap to single-digits with an 8-4 run to start the second half but saw the Terrier respond and build their lead back to as many as 21 at one point.  UMBC had its best half of the season scoring 34 points and shooting 48.0 percent from the field in the second half. For game Anastasia Goncharova scored 16 points and Maria Brown score 11.  Freshman Courtney Doughman tallied 10 points going 3-of-3 from three-point range while classmate Sharri Rohde had 9 points and 8 rebounds.   

HUSKY UPDATE: The Northeastern Huskies lost in a battle of two 2-0 teams this past week as Hartford U. topped the Huskies 60-56.  The Huskies led by three, 37-34 at halftime an held an advantage over Hartford up until 3:40 to play in the second half when Hartford tied the game for the first time since the early stages of the first half.  The Hawks would moments later after trading baskets finally go up for good to deal Northeastern their first conference loss of the season.  Maralene Zwarich led the Huskies with 17 points in the game shooting 7-of-14 from the field.  The Huskies are led by Zwarich on the season with 15.3 ppg.  Teammates Joi Jefferson (10.7 ppg) and Melissa Kowalski (10.1 ppg) are also averaging double figures for Northeastern.          

Who’s Up Next:  The Retrievers come home to host New Hampshire on Wednesday, Jan 21 at 7 p.m. and Maine on Saturday, Jan. 24 at 7 p.m.

Retrievers In The Midst Of Three-Game Road Trip...The UMBC Retrievers are in the midst of a three-game road trip that had them playing at Hartford last Saturday and swinging through Boston, Mass., for games against Boston U. and Northeastern.  The Retrievers are 0-2 on their road trip falling to the Hawks, 55-46, and dropping a 72-53 decision to Boston U. in their latest outing.  The Retrievers went 2-1 last season when playing three consecutive road conference games.

Retrievers Looking For History To Repeat Itself...The last time the Retrievers lost to Boston U. prior to their 72-53 defeat last Thursday, the Retrievers were in an eight game losing streak to open the season, the Retrievers longest streak until their 12 game drought to open this year.  Following that hard fought loss to the Terriers, the Retrievers went on to win nine of their next 14 games and salvage their season by finishing 10-18 with a loss in the East Coast Conference Tournament first round.  The Retrievers will be looking to break their losing streak this year much like that 1991-92 season when they take on Northeastern on Saturday.     

Goncharova Heating Up In Conference Play...Anastasia Goncharova has been on fire since starting conference play, shooting 45.9 percent from the field and averaging 15.0 ppg.  Goncharova finished the team’s non-conference slate averaging 9.4 ppg.  Goncharova scored 18 points in the Retrievers’ league opener against Stony Brook, added 11 against Hartford and scored 16 versus Boston U.  She has scored double figures in the last three games.

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.  

Goncharova Responding After Subpar Nights...When Retrievers' junior Anastasia Goncharova goes it seems like the Retrievers' offense goes as Goncharova has responded well in games preceding a subpar offensive output.  Goncharova scored a team-high 18 points against Stony Brook after being held scoreless against Loyola in the previous contest.  Goncharova's 18-point performance was not the first time she has responded well as she strung together three-straight double-figure performances including 18 points vs. North Carolina after recording three points in the season opener vs. Penn.  Goncharova had another big night against Radford with 16 points after being held to six against Maryland.  Goncharova leads the team with eight games scoring in double figures.

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 also rejected two shots in the game as she has seven blocks on the year and five in course of three games.  Over the past five games Rohde is averaging 8.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. 

Retrievers Scoring On The Rise...After averaging 39.4 ppg in the first seven contests, the Retrievers’ scoring has started to rise over the last five games, averaging 50.8 points per game.     

Retrievers’ Bench Adds Spark...The Retrievers have been getting some help from its reserves as of late as Mariana Santos came off the bench to tally 16 points, a team-high, in the Retrievers game against Hartford.  In the previous two games before Radford the UMBC bench scored 19 points in each of the contests.  In the Retrievers game 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.     

Rookies Coming To Play…The freshman class this season has put together solid numbers for the Retrievers in their debut, averaging 34.5 percent of the Retrievers’ total scoring.  Sharri Rohde, who leads the team in rebounding average at 5.9 rpg, is averaging a team third best 6.5 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 Cashing In At Charity Stripe...Mariana Santos has been spectacular at the free throw line this season, hitting 27-of-28 attempts for a 96.4 free throw percentage.  Against Hartford, Santos was a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line as she scored 16 points off the bench for the Retrievers.  Santos needs six made free throws in the Retrievers next game to meet the criteria of 2.5 free throws made per game to rank in the America East statistics. 

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.  Doughman has started the past three games for the Retrievers while Luttrell has come off the bench since her last start against Maryland.   

Keep Me In Coach...Head coach Phil Stern has stuck with some of his players for all 40 minutes on seven occasions this season.  In the Retrievers’ conference game against Hartford, Anastasia Goncharova played all 40 minutes scoring 11 points.  Goncharova also has logged 40 minutes on two other occasions, scoring 10 points against Navy and 16 at Radford.  In the Retrievers outing versus Loyola, freshman standout Sharri Rohde went all 40 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.

From Down Town…The Retrievers continued their season-long commitment to the three, going 7-of-19 against Boston U.  The Retrievers this season have taken 20-plus shots from outside the arc on eight occasions.  Anastasia Goncharova has the Retrievers’ most three-point buckets with 27 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 Stony Brook to lead the Retrievers in scoring with 18 points in that game.  As a team the Retrievers are shooting 29.5 percent from three-point range. 

Hitting The Airwaves…UMBC will be featured on the airwaves a couple times this season.  The Retrievers made a TV appearance on Saturday, Jan. 10 when they played 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. 

Retrievers In The America East Charts...At the start of the week, freshman Sharri Rohde’s rebounding has her listed in conference charts, ranking ninth in defensive rebounds with 4.82 per game and 12th in overall rebounding at 5.7 per game.  Rohde ranks ninth in blocks with .64 per game.  Anastasia Goncharova ranks third in three-point percentage at .294 and third in three-point field goals made at 2.27 per game.  Goncharova also ranks 18th in scoring at 10.4 ppg. 

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 six blocks on the season and leads the team with 16 steals.

No Charity Allowed...In the latest NCAA statistics release (games thru Jan. 5), UMBC ranked third in the country in fouls per game at 11.7.  UMBC currently is averaging 12.5 fouls per game.  UMBC finished fifth in the nation last year in fouls per game at 13.5. 

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.