UMBC

Anastasia Goncharova scored eight points off the bench for UMBC.

Baltimore, Md. – The UMBC Retrievers women’s basketball team (7-9, 2-5 AE) fell to the University of Maine (9-8, 5-2 AE) in America East Women’s Basketball action on Wednesday night at UMBC RAC Arena by a final of 62-46.  The Retrievers were led by 13 points from Matea Pender as she increased her double-digit scoring streak to five-games in a row.

The Retrievers in the first half trailed 17-6 before a 11-0 run tied the game at 17-17 with 9:54 left in the first half as Anastasia Goncharova off the bench drained a trey for UMBC.  The Retrievers, however, would never lead in the game as the tie was broken on a pair of free throws by Ashley Underwood at the 8:47 mark, sparking Maine to a 17-6 run to end the half and take a 10-point lead at the break, 33-23.

The Retrievers opened the second half with a 7-0 run jumping right back in the game as Brittnie Hughes scored six of the Retrievers opening seven points on two lay-ups and a jumper as UMBC trailed 33-30 with 16:57 in the half. 

The Black Bears turned the table for good with a 18-5 run at that point to increase their advantage to 16 points at the 11:14 mark on a Bracey Barker lay-up and would never dip below the double-digit mark again en route to the 62-46 win.

Barker led all scorers with a double-double at 22 points and 11 rebounds.  Teammates Abyy Schrader and Missy Traversi finished with 11 points and 12 points respectively for Maine as well.

Pender scored 13 points for UMBC as the leading three-point shooter in the nation entering the week (56.9 percent) dropped 3-of-5 jumpers from outside the arc.  Hughes added nine points and four assists while Goncharova off the bench scored eight points for the Retrievers.

Maine outrebounded UMBC 32-20 and shot 48.9 percent from the field, 22-of-45.  UMBC shot 42.5 percent from the field at 17-of-40.

The Retrievers return to action against New Hampshire on Saturday, Jan. 29 at 1 p.m. in UMBC RAC Arena.

Game Notes:  Maine extended their win streak over UMBC to three-straight with their 62-46 win tonight and the sweeping of the season series last year…Matea Pender has a five-game double-digit scoring streak going as she scored 13 points tonight…Pender entered the week as the leading three-point shooter in the nation at 56.9 percent…she went 3-of-5 tonight and now holds a season mark of 57.1 percent, 40-of-70 from outside the arc…UMBC  committed 21 turnovers, their second most amount of turnovers in conference play…Brittnie Hughes returned to the UMBC starting line-up after coming off the bench for the first time this season at Binghamton last Saturday…Bracey Barkers double-double is just the sixth double-double UMBC has given up this year…UMBC after a win is 3-4 this season.