UMBC

Freshman Mackenzie Butler recorded a career-high four blocks in UMBC's 48-41 win over Albany last Thursday.

Baltimore, Md. – UMBC will go back on the road for its fifth conference game out of the first seven on Sunday at Stony Brook, taking on a Seawolves squad that is off to an 11-6 record with a 4-2 league mark.  UMBC is 9-8 on the year with a 1-5 America East record.  Play-by-play announcer Troy Green will be on the call and bring the action live on WLG 1370 AM and on www.umbcretrievers.com.  Fans can also follow Stony Brook’s game tracker live stats by clicking on the link inside full story or on the UMBC women’s basketball schedule.      

RETRIEVER UPDATE:   UMBC is coming off is first conference win with a 48-41 victory over Albany last week at home.  UMBC moved to 5-1 at home this season but has only seen three home games since Dec. 10, going 3-7 over that stretch.  Junior Sharri Rohde broke out with a 20-point effort against the Great Danes, breaking the 600-career point plateau, recording a new career single game high and tallying her fourth consecutive double digit performance.  Rohde added nine rebounds, coming one shy of her first double-double while recording three assists, one block and a steal.    Rohde in six conference games has double figures in five with a 12.8 ppg average, shooting 52.5 percent from the field.  Matea Pender leads UMBC on the season with 13.4 ppg while Brittnie Hughes is averaging 10.1 ppg.

SEAWOLVES UPDATE: Stony Brook is off to an 11-6 record with a 4-2 mark on the season as the Seawolves are tied for second in the America East standings.  The Seawolves hold the league’s top individual team RPI ranking at 29th in the nation due in a large part to its win over top-25 ranked Temple.  The Seawolves are coming off a 65-49 win over Maine and are led by Mykeema Ford’s 16.9 ppg and Jessica Smith’s 15.9 ppg.  Ford leads the league in assists per game at 5.53 apg.  Dana Ferraro has been a force on the boards this year, averaging 12.0 rpg 

Who’s Up Next:  UMBC returns home for two straight games, hosting Binghamton (Feb. 1) and New Hampshire (Feb. 4) next week.        

RETRIEVER GAMEDAY

Game Notes:  UMBC against Stony Brook is the Retrievers 18th game of the season, seventh in the America East Conference and 11th road game.   The game marks the fifth all-time meeting between the two programs with Stony Brook holding a 4-0 all-time advantage.  Stony Brook is one of two teams in the America East Conference UMBC has yet to earn a win against.  The game could mark a good starting point for Matea Pender to break out of her four game scoring slump in which she has went 4-for-21 from the field and averaged 4.3 ppg.  Last year at Stony Brook, Pender went off for 30 points and eight rebounds.  Pender in the second meeting against SBU scored 19 points.  Stony Brook will counter Pender with the top scoring duo in the conference in Mykeema Ford and Jessica Smith.  Smith scored 17 points in both games last year against UMBC and is having a sensational season, averaging 15.9 ppg.  Ford tallied 19 points in the last meeting between the two programs and ranks 21st in the nation with 5.6 apg.

RETRIEVER QUICK SHOTS

- A few of the Retriever veterans had some large success against Stony Brook last year, including Matea Pender, who scored her career high of 30 points at Stony Brook and tallied 19 points against SBU at home.  Pender went 7-for-15 from the field, 6-of-8 from three-point range and 10-of-10 at the free throw line in her 30-point night.  She added eight boards as well.  Heather Luttrell tallied double figures in both games, scoring 12 points in each game while Sharri Rohde scored 16 points in one game and eight in another.  

- The Retrievers used a stellar defensive effort to win their first conference victory of the year in a 48-41 win over Albany and break last season’s win total.  UMBC with nine wins on the year surpassed its eight wins during the 2004-05 season.  UMBC moved to 5-1 at RAC Arena this year with the win. 

- Junior Sharri Rohde is off to a solid conference start as the Retriever forward is averaging 12.8 ppg in six conference games this season.  Rohde led UMBC to a 48-41 win over Albany, scoring a career-high 20 points to go with nine rebounds.  Rohde passed the career 600-point mark in the game.  She is shooting 52.5 percent from the field to go along with 5.2 rpg, 11 assists, six blocks and six steals in league play.  Rohde has five double-figure performances in six games, including a current four-game streak. 

- Senior Matea Pender, who last year led the nation in three-point field goal percentage for the majority of the year and finished the year third in the country at 48.3 percent, ranks 21st in the nation as of games through Jan. 23, 2006.  Pender currently is averaging 44.9 percent from outside the arc, making 35-of-78 three-point field goals. 

- UMBC in the last released NCAA statistics as of games through Jan. 23, 2006, ranked ninth in the nation with 17.8 apg.   The NCAA Statistics are released every Tuesday afternoon. 

- UMBC against Stony brook pits the Retrievers on the road for the ninth time in the last 11 games.  UMBC is currently 3-7 in road games.  UMBC to start conference play traveled in four of the first five league games, traveling approximately 3,286 miles to reach the three farthest programs in the first three weeks of league play.  Once the Retrievers move into February next week, UMBC will play six of its final nine games at home, where the Retrievers currently hold a 5-1 mark. 

News and Notes...

America East Conference Ranked 12th in RPI Poll...America East women’s basketball teams are a combined 57-40 (.588) in the 2005-06 non-conference season. As a conference, America East currently ranks 12th in the nation in The Collegiate Basketball News Women’s RPI Report, but more importantly, is fourth among I-AA conferences. Only the Colonial (eighth), Atlantic 10 (10th) and Missouri Valley (11th) are higher ranking I-AA leagues. America East has never finished 12th in the final RPI for a season and only once has it finished fourth among I-AA Conferences (2001-02). America East boasts three teams with RPIs in the top 100. Due in large part to the Seawolves win over ranked Temple, Stony Brook leads the conference teams with an RPI of 29, followed by Hartford (40) and Boston University (86).

Lending a helping hand...UMBC leads the America East Conference for the second consecutive season in assists per game and ranks ninth in the NCAA Statistics through games Jan. 23, 2006.  The Retrievers to date have recorded 17.6 apg.  UMBC has six games with 20-plus assists this season, including 26 against Fairleigh Dickinson as the Retrievers came one assist away from their single-season mark of 27, set in 1985 against Shippensburg.  Brittnie Hughes dished out a career-high 10 assists against Lafayette and is averaging 4.8 apg through 17 games this season.  The junior point guard has 82 assists on the year.

Pender Reaches All-Time Top-20 Scoring Chart...Senior Matea Pender joined UMBC’s all-time top-20 chart for points scored after recording 13 points against IPFW.  Pender currently has 845career points, 16th all-time.  The last time UMBC had an active member on the top-20 scoring list was during the 2002-03 season. 

Pender Becomes Fifth Retriever To Reach 100 Treys For Her Career...Senior Matea Pender recorded five treys against Drexel to become the fifth player in UMBC history to reach 100 career three-point baskets.  Pender needs 10 treys to reach fourth on UMBC’s all-time three-point baskets made chart. 

Rohde’s Perfect Day From The Field...Junior Sharri Rohde was a force inside against Hartford, going a perfect 7-for-7 from the field.  Rohde scored 14 points, mostly on inside post moves for layups or short jumpers.  UMBC’s single-game record for field goal percentage is 100 percent on 10-of-10 shooting by Monica Logan.  That record was set on January 4, 1997 against Niagara. 

Rohde’s Start Streak...Junior Sharri Rohde extended her streak to 73 consecutive starts and has not missed a start in her entire collegiate career, starting all 28 games as a freshman and sophomore and every one this year.

Rohde Moving Up Assists and Blocks All-Time Charts...Junior Sharri Rohde, who is UMBC’s active leader in assists, blocks and steals, is moving up the Retrievers all-time charts in the assists and blocks category.  Rohde currently has 202 career assists, 10th all-time and 57 career blocks, ranking 11th all-time. 

Hughes Joins All-Time Assists Chart...Junior Brittnie Hughes recorded three assists against Boston U. to joining UMBC’s all-time top-15 for career assists.  The Retriever point guard currently has 183 career assists, ranking tied for 14th all-time. 

UMBC Featured on AE TV...The second installment of "America East On Campus" showcased a feature on the UMBC women's basketball team.  The second show debuted on New England Sports Network (NESN) January 16 at 6:30 p.m. in a 30-minute window between two Atlantic Coast Conference basketball games, followed by a broadcast on Cox Sports Television at 9 p.m. NESN re-aired the show on January 17 at 6:30 p.m. and again on January 29 at 2:30 p.m. Time Warner Cable in Albany and Time Warner Cable in Binghamton will also broadcast the show in the month January with programming times and dates to be announced.  Please check America East's online schedule for the latest programming information. A streaming video will also be available through the internet via America East All Access, provided by CSTV.

Indiana Trio Make Most Of Trip To Hoosier State...UMBC’s Indiana girls put on a show in front of some family and friends against IPFW and Butler.  The Indiana trio combined for 31 points against IPFW.  Kristin Drabyn scored a career-high 14 points, all in the second half.  Sharri Rohde tallied 10 points while Heather Luttrell dropped seven points in the game.  The trio shot a combined 63.1 percent from the field, making 12-of-19 shots.  Against Butler, Rohde tallied a career-high 11 rebounds while Drabyn finished with her second double-digit performance, scoring 10 points. 

Hughes Earns America East Conference Co-Player of the Week (12-4-05)...Brittnie Hughes was named America East Conference Co-Player of the Week for the week ending Dec. 4, 2005.  Hughes led UMBC to back-to-back wins as the junior point guard averaged 18.0 ppg and 6.5 apg in two contests. Hughes opened the week at American, scoring a career-high 19 points with nine assists and a 9-of-9 performance at the free throw line.

Hughes Named To Second All-Tournament Team...When it comes to tournaments, UMBC junior point guard Brittnie Hughes has stepped up to the challenge, earning a spot on both all-tournament teams this season.  Hughes won a spot on the Retriever Tip-Off Tournament team after leading the Retrievers to the title.  At South Florida, Hughes averaged 15.5 ppg and 4.25 apg to lead the Retrievers to a 1-1 mark.  Last year Hughes was named to the 2004 Retriever Tip-Off Tournament team.   

Hitting the Airwaves...UMBC will hit the airwaves with six games broadcasted live on WLG-1370 AM, all home games and some away games via www.umbcretrievers.com and a televised game against Vermont on Feb. 12 at RAC Arena.  All WLG broadcast games will also run live via the website for fans outside the broadcasting network.  UMBC will also broadcast live stats via the web for all home games at RAC Arena.

Block Party...Amanda Robinson’s six blocks against Morgan State tied Eunice French for the most blocks recorded in a single game by a Retriever.  Robinson had three blocks in the first five minutes against Morgan State.  UMBC as a team blocked nine shots against Morgan State, Robinson’s six, Nicole Dixon recording two and Mackenzie Butler one. 

Pender Named MVP Of Retriever Tip-Off Tournament....Senior Matea Pender was named Retriever Tip-Off Tournament Most Valuable Player after averaging 14.5 ppg in the two games.  Pender shot .500 from outside the arc, making 5-for-10 while shooting 47.6 percent from the field on 10-of-21.  Pender added 10 rebounds, four assists and two steals in the two-day event. 

UMBC Captures Tip-Off Tournament Title...UMBC for the first time in the three-year history of the Retriever Tip-Off Tournament captured the title, defeating Morgan State, 72-50, in the opening round to advance the championship game against Fairleigh Dickinson.  UMBC went on to beat FDU, 76-58, to win the title as Matea Pender earned tournament most valuable player honors and Brittnie Hughes made the all-tournament team.   

Retrievers Picked Ninth In Preseason Conference Poll...The UMBC women’s basketball team was picked to finish ninth in the America East Conference Preseason Coaches’ Poll.  Hartford was the league’s pick to win the conference after taking the league tournament title last year.  Boston U. and Maine were selected to tie for second. 

America East Tournament Returns To Hartford...For the third consecutive season the America East Conference Championships will return to Chase Arena at the Reich Family Pavilion on the campus of the University of Hartford.  Hartford has hosted the conference tournament the past two seasons, including winning the league tournament last season.   

International Students...UMBC has developed a reputation for having international students on its roster, including two in 2005-06.  UMBC has graduated two international students the last two years and will graduate senior Matea Pender at the conclusion of the upcoming season. 

UMBC Inks Two for 2006-07...UMBC head women’s basketball coach Phil Stern announced the signings of two student-athletes to National Letters of Intent to attend UMBC for the 2006-07 academic year.  Carlee Cassidy (Syracuse, N.Y./Westhill) and Leanne Crockett (Manchester, Conn./Manchester) are both slated to become freshman at UMBC in the fall of 2006.