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Women's Basketball at UMBC Wednesday
Feb. 20, 2006
Complete Release in PDF Format
The Opening Tip The University of Maine women's basketball team will travel to Baltimore to face UMBC Wednesday night at the RAC. The Black Bears, who own a 5-0 record all-time against UMBC, are coming off a strong showing in their 69-58 win over New Hampshire on Saturday at Alfond Arena. Maine has already defeated the Retrievers once this season, as it handed UMBC a 73-56 loss back on Jan. 21 in Orono. The Black Bears will be looking to win back-to-back conference games for the first time this season. The Black Bears have been playing with more confidence the last couple of weeks, as they have won two of their last three contests. The only loss during that span was only a three-point defeat to Vermont, 68-65. Maine is 2-9 on the road this season, but did win its last game away from Orono, as the Black Bears defeated Albany, 61-52, on Feb. 12. Scouting UMBC Despite an overtime loss to America East-leading Hartford at home last week, the UMBC Retrievers (14-9, 6-6 America East) have been one of the hottest teams in the conference. The Retrievers have won six of their last seven games since they lost to Maine back on Jan. 21 in Orono. Two of those wins have come on the road and three of them have been by double-digit margins. UMBC's four home wins during that stretch came against Albany, Binghamton, New Hampshire and Vermont. The Retrievers lead the conference in assists per game at 16.3 and are tied for first in field goal percentage at .437. UMBC has also been strong on the defensive end, as it just one of two teams in conference (the other being Hartford) who are limiting opponents to an average of under 60 points per game. Offensively, Matea Pender and Sharri Rohde rank in the top 11 in the conference in scoring per game at 13.0 and 12.1, respectively. Brittnie Hughes ranks second in the league with an average of 4.35 assists per contest. Defensively, Rohde and Pender are tied for ninth in the conference with an average of 4.39 defensive boards a game. The Retrievers are 8-2 at home this season and 4-2 in conference. Black Bears Must Avoid Similar Start Last Time They Played UMBC Maine must avoid the 8-0 run it let UMBC start the game with back on Jan. 21 in Orono. The Black Bears did shake off the sluggish start by scoring 16 of the next 20 points to take the lead and never relinquish it. Every Black Bear Had An Assist Last Time Against UMBC All 10 Black Bears that played against UMBC on Jan. 21 recorded at least one assist. The only one not to do so was Brittany Boser, as she did not play in the game due to a stress fracture in her foot. Maine Perfect Versus UMBC UMBC is one of two America East schools Maine owns a perfect record against all-time. The other school is Albany which the Black Bears swept in two games this season. Maine is 5-0 all-time against UMBC. Maine Solid At The RAC In Maine's two previous meetings with UMBC at the RAC, the Black Bears have won both by double-digit margins. Barker Putting Up Big Offensive Numbers Versus UMBC Bracey Barker has scored at least 15 points in her last three games versus UMBC. She netted 22 at UMBC on Jan. 24, and followed with 15 against the Retrievers on March 5, of last season. Back on Jan. 21 of this season, Barker poured in a game-high 16 points. Balanced Scoring Last Game Against Retrievers Maine's 73-56 win over UMBC back on Jan. 21, featured balanced scoring throughout the lineup. In addition to Barker's game-high 16, Abby Schrader chipped in 14, Margaret Elderton recorded her first-career double-figure game with 11, Ashley Underwood added nine points before leaving midway through the second half with an ankle injury, and freshman Brittany Bowen scored a then-career high nine points. A Maine Win Would...
A Maine win would give the Black Bears back-to-back conference wins for the first time this season.
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