Cold Retrievers Get Bumped From First Round Of AEC Tournament, Live Blog- Women’s Basketball vs. Boston U (America East Tournament)

Carlee Cassidy scored 18 points in her final collegiate game.

After beating Boston U twice during the season the Retrievers certainly had a disappointing outing against them in the tournament. Rushed shots, lack of a post presence, and poor passing just doomed UMBC as they lost 60-40 in the opening round of the America East tournament.

Pregame:

The women already know they will play Vermont in round two, but first thing is first, get past Boston U. While they have beaten Boston twice this season the Terriers lost by two points at home, and one at home. To be successful UMBC just has to play the same way they did in their previous two meeting. If they play a solid man-to-man to keep the ball inside, that could limit the three-point opportunities for Boston and force them to get the ball timed, were UMBC definitely has an advantage.

Starters:

#6 UMBC:
C- Tope Obajolu
F- Erin Brown
G- Michelle Kurowski
G- Carlee Cassidy
G- Michele Brokans

#3 Boston U:
C- Kerry Cashman
F- Caroline Stewart
G- Alex Young
G- Mo Moran
G- Chantell Alford

First Half:

15:48- 4-2 Boston U

Both teams are missing easy shots early on. They should settle down soon, Tope Obajolu has the two UMBC points so far.

11:56- 10-7 Boston U

Both teams are still missing simple shots. Michelle Kurowski got the last score after being opened up inside with a great screen by Meghan Colabella.

7:51- 17-12 Boston U

For two teams who don’t play defense very well this is certainly a low scoring game at this point. Boston U is shooting just 35% and UMBC is shooting only 33% from the field.

3:24- 20-18 Boston U

Neither team has been able to get into a rhythm shooting yet. For UMBC to only have 18 points and only be down 20 is very interesting, they have just cut out all inside options and forced Boston to shoot eight three-pointers. They’ve only made two.

Halftime: 28-18 Boston U

Boston U went on an 8-0 run over the last four minutes and put UMBC down by 10 points. UMBC showed they can come back from a 23 point second half deficit but in this tournament it is going to be a challenge. The only post player to see time in the game so far was Tope Obajolu, who did not see the floor outside of the first five minutes. She did not have any fouls and did not appear to be hurt, I doubt this will be the case in the second half. UMBC has to get a post player back in the game, they only managed three offensive rebounds and that really limited what the offense could do. They only shot 26.1% from the field while Boston U shot 42.9%.

Stats:

Boston U-
Alex Young- 11 points, 2 rebounds
Chantell Alford- 8 points, 6 rebounds
Mo Moran- 4 points, 3 assists
Caroline Stewart- 3 points, 6 rebounds
Kerry Cashman- 2 points, 2 rebounds

UMBC-
Michelle Kurowski- 9 points, 3 rebounds
Carlee Cassidy- 5 points, 4 rebounds
Erin Brown- 2 points, 4 rebounds
Tope Obajolu- 2 points
Meghan Colabella- 2 rebounds

Second Half:

15:49- 34-23 Boston U

UMBC just cannot get shoot the ball well. Only four players have scored and they are shooting just 26.7% after making only eight field goals.

14:25- 39-24 Boston U

UMBC is just 14% from three-point range and nothing is even close to on target. They are either way too long or way too short. Hopefully UMBC can find a happy medium is they want to comeback.

11:44- 41-28 Boston U

UMBC has come back from bigger deficits but they just cannot buy a shot. They are shooting 29% to Boston U’s 41%. They are also being outrebounded 31-22.

7:52- 46-35 Boston U

Bad passing, poor shot selection, and lack of a post presence have just taken UMBC out of this game. They are shooting just 33%, being outrebounded by 10, and have 12 turnovers to their five assists.

4:18- 49-39 Boston U

UMBC can still easily go on a run to get the game tied back up, but they have to settle down and take better shots if they want any hope of it.

3:48- 52-41 Boston U

Carlee Cassidy had the ball on a break away but was slammed from behind and sent to the floor. However, there was no intentional foul called. She did make both of her attempts but Boston U came right back down and hit a well defended three-pointer.

2:50- 55-46 Boston U

Carlee Cassidy does not want to go out with a bad loss like this. She scored her 18th point to get the Retrievers within nine points, but somebody else has to step up to help her out on offense.

Final:

UMBC Just could not shoot the ball well at all. They shot just 32% from the field, 9% from three-point range, were outrebounded by nine, and turned the ball over 14 times.

Final Stats:

Boston U
Alex Young: 23 points, 2 rebounds
Chantell Alford:13 points, 11 rebounds
Mo Moran: 12 points, 5 assists
Caroline Stewart: 8 points, 15 rebounds
Kerry Cashman: 2 points, 2 rebounds
Aly Hinton: 2 points, 2 rebounds

UMBC:
Carlee Cassidy: 18 points, 8 rebounds
Michelle Kurowski: 13 points, 8 rebounds
Meghan Colabella: 9 points, 8 rebounds
Michele Brokans: 3 points, 3 assists
Erin Brown: 2 points, 6 rebounds
Tope Obajolu: 2 points
Chelsea Barker: 2 points