After an inconsistent start to the season Cassidy scored in double figures in 11 of 16 regular season conference games.

Cassidy also was recognized for her academic success. As a sociology and Media and Communications double major, she accumulated a 3.35 GPA and earned a spot on the 2010 women’s basketball all-academic team.

On the men’s side, Chauncey Gilliam earned third-team all-conference honors while Adrian Satchell was named to the all-rookie team.

Gilliam led UMBC with 13.5 points and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 41.8% from the field. He also had 3.7 rebounds per game.

Gilliam shined in conference play, scoring in his final 12 games and averaging 15.3 points and 4.1 rebounds against America East opponents.

Satchell started all of the teams 29 games in his freshman season and averaged 6.0 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. He led the team with a 50.7 field goal percentage, which also lead all freshman in the America East Conference.

Carlee Cassidy led the team with 18 points and had eight rebounds in what would be the final game of her career, while Michelle Kurowski scored 13 points and had eight rebounds.

UMBC was able to slow the game down to a pace favorable for them, but they just were not able to hit shots. Erin Brown shot six threes and none of them hit the rim.

After being down by only two points with two minutes remaining in the first half, Boston U went on an 8-0 run to end the half, which completely killed UMBC at break and after the half they came out very flat and still could not get anything done offensively.

The defense played well but Boston U’s Alex Young hit four threes and scored 23 points while the they outrebounded UMBC 43-35.

Further coverage of this event will be featured in the March 9 issue of The Retriever Weekly.

Gilliam is UMBC’s leading scorer with 13.5 points per game and has increased his scoring average to 15.3 points per game in conference play. He has scored in double digits in 12 straight games, and 23 times this season. In an upset of Hartford he scored a career high 26 points and against New Hampshire in the season finale he recorded his first double-double of the season (11 points, 10 rebounds).

His competition is Binghamton’s Greer Wright (15.3 ppg, 6.1 rpg), Hartford’s Joe Zeglinski (16.6 ppg, 5.1 rpg), Stony Brook’s Tommy Brenton (7.7 ppg, 9.6 rpg), and Vermont’s two-time player and defensive player of the year Marqus Blakely (17.4 ppg, 9.3 rpg)

To Vote For Chauncey Gilliam Click Here

Cassidy is a two-time All-Conference selection, and two-time America East scoring champion. She is UMBC’s all time three-point shooter with 245, which is tied for the second-most in America East History. Her 1,600 career points is second all-time at UMBC and 23rd all time in the America East. She currently leads the team with 13.3 ppg and has 4.1 rpg and 2.1 apg. She has also made 2.4 three-pointers per game. On her senior day she scored 25 points with nine rebounds in a comeback win in which UMBC was down by 23 points in the second half.

Her competition is Boston U’s Aly Hinton (9.2 ppg, 5.9 rpg), Boston U’s Krystyn McIntrye (0.8 ppg, 0.8 rpg), Vermont’s May Kotsopoulos (17.8 ppg, 2.7 apg), and Vermont’s Courtnay Pilypaitis (15.0 ppg, 7.5 rpg).

To Vote For Carlee Cassidy Click Here.

CLICK HERE to cast your vote.

On the men’s side, sophomore guard Chauncey Gilliam and Chris De La Rosa have been nominated for the award. That ballot will run one extra day, until Thursday, February 25 at 12 p.m.

CLICK HERE to cast your vote.

The men’s game against Vermont originally scheduled for Saturday at 3:00 p.m. has been moved to today, Friday, February 5 at 3:00 p.m.

The women’s game against Maine originally scheduled for Saturday at 12:00 p.m. has been moved to Sunday, February at 12:00 p.m.

In a place the women’s basketball team has never found success before, they bounced back from a miserable three-game losing streak in a big way with a 65-63 victory over Boston University at Chase Gym.

“We had such a bad stretch of three games at home and it’s unfortunate it came at that time with three home games after we played well for a stretch, but it happens,” said coach Phil Stern. “It’s such a long season and there is up’s and down’s.”

With nine lead changed in a game that neither team led by more than eight points the team found that energy that they were missing against Vermont and in order to try to get that spark back Stern continued to make changes to the starting lineup and his offensive and defensive schemes. Junior guard Chelsea Barker made her second straight start, but both Erin Brown and Michele Brokans were moved back to the bench in order to get Meghan Colabella and Michelle Kurowski back in the start lineup.

“We just changed it up a little bit,” Stern said. “Carlee [Cassidy] and Chelsea were bringing it up [the court as point guards] but [Katie Brooks] and Brokans still played 25 minutes. We played a little differently on the defensive end [with] a lot of switching man…it worked out.”

But in her new role as a part-time point guard Cassidy thrived. She recorded game highs with 18 points and six rebounds. Her 18 points came off five three-pointers, which were half of the team’s total, and three free throws. She also had five rebounds.

“We came out and made some shots early, which is really important for us since we’re a really good shooting team that hasn’t been shooting well,” Stern said. “Any time you make 10 three’s in a game you’re giving yourself a chance to win.”

The team’s 10th three-pointer turned out to be the biggest. With just under two minutes left in the game Brooks nailed her only three-pointer of the game, which put UMBC up by two points. The Terriers then missed their next three shots and a free throw. Their second attempt from the charity stripe cut UMBC’s lead to just one point with 24 seconds left, but the Retrievers made four of their next free throws to give UMBC the two points win.

After being going at the half, 37-37, the Terriers only managed to score two points in the paint. While they are a guard oriented team and “try to do a lot on the perimeter and try to shoot a lot of three’s,” according to Stern, much of that could be contributed to Topé Obajolu, who was not only a factor on defense, swatting in two blocks, but she also scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds and shot 75% from the free throw line.

Since the start of conference play, Obajolu has been on a role. In 13 non-conference games she was averaging just 5.2 points and 3.3 rebounds per game and was struggling from the free throw line going just 6-of-20 (30.0%) from the free throw line. However, in seven conference games she has more than doubled her offensive production, averaging 12.1 p.p.g. with 5.6 r.p.g. She has also been exceptionally well from the free throw line, going 25-of-28 (89.3%).

“Even last year at times she showed signs of being a good player but she was a freshman and was just feeling her way,” Stern said. “She’s just real confident now that every time she touches the ball she can score. She can make a 16 or 17 foot jumper and she can make good post moves; she’s dangerous.

“Now that she’s making her foul shots we’ll throw the ball into her more because she wasn’t making her shots before and it was hard to throw it in…she’s a big player for us right now.”

Last season the women’s basketball team only managed to win one road game all season, and were losing by an average of 20 points per road contest, but this year they are 0-4 at home against conference opponents and 3-0 on the road against conference opponents.

“The fact that we’re 3-0 in [conference games] shows we have a lot of maturity,” Stern said. “We’ve gone to tough places we haven’t won a lot and have won.”

With a 3-4 overall conference record the team is going to be in search of their first home conference victory when they face the 5-14 Stony Brook Seawolves at 7:00 on Thursday, January 28.

After winning two road games the women’s basketball team looked like they were going to be a serious contender in the America East, and looked to be ready to soar up the standings with three straight home-games. But the team lost all three, capped off by a 79-51 defeat by No. 24 Vermont.

While the team was not expected to beat the Catamounts, they did have match-ups working in their favor. Vermont has one of the best guard duos in the nation in Courtnay Pilypaitis and May Kotsopoulos but lack a consistent threat inside. UMBC however has Topé Obajolu, who has more than doubled her non-conference points and rebounding averages in conference play. While she managed to score nine points, grab three steals, and swat away four Catamount shots, the team still failed to even keep the game close.

“Vermont is a good team and played very well and we didn’t play with a lot of passion and energy and it showed on the scoreboard,” said coach Phil Stern.

UMBC just struggled to do the simple things in the games. They were not boxing out, they were not fighting for loose balls or rebounds, and they were just settling for shots rather than making their own.

“We were trying to run but weren’t running. Defensively we were flat footed,” Stern said. “[Vermont is] an aggressive team and if you don’t match their energy you’re going to lose.”

After dropping the first two games of the three game home stand Stern decided to make a roster move in order to shake things up on the team. He inserted junior guard Chelsea Barker into the starting lineup in place of Michelle Kurowski, though she did see 26 minutes of action and scored seven points.

Barker did not see much time last season but has seen an increase of minutes this year and has had some very big nights for UMBC. Against the Catamounts she led the team with 10 points.

“Right now every position is up in the air. You play like you did in the last three games, practice will determine who’s going to play,” Stern said. “Chelsea earned a start. It wasn’t what anybody else did, she’s been practicing well and had a good night [against Binghamton].”

At 8-11 and 2-4 in America East play, the Retrievers have nine more games to make a turnaround. They will have to make a quick turnaround from this game with a road game at Boston University on January 24.

“We have to get back to playing with the energy and the passion we played with against Virginia, East Carolina, and Towson,” Stern said. “I don’t know where we lost it in the last week but we did and it’s disappointing after two road wins. We’ll figure it out. We’ve got some kids who really want to get it done.”

After scoring just 21 points in the first half, four highly touted sophomores combined for 36 of the team’s 41 second half points as UMBC beat Albany 62-57 to even their overall record to 8-8 and improve their conference record to 2-1.

Neither team seemed to be able to take hold of the game in SEFCU arena in Albany, New York. There were eight lead changes between the Retrievers and Great Danes with neither team leading by more than seven points.

After a poor first half for UMBC where they totaled just 21 points and shot 29.6% from the field, the second half was a completely different story. After going into the half down 26-21, the Retrievers scored 41 second half points, ten more than Albany did.

The quartet of sophomores for UMBC totaled 36 of those points. Katie Brooks scored 14 of her team high 16 points after the break. Topé Obajolu scored 10 of her 15, Erin Brown scored seven of her 12 points, and Michelle Kurowski scored five of her eight points in the second half.

After averaging just over five points and three rebounds per game before conference play began, Obajolu had averaged 11 points and six rebounds in the three conference games so far. With lone exception of Hartford, the America East is built around solid guard play and Obajolu’s emergence into a consistent threat for UMBC could prove to be a key factor of success for UMBC down the stretch. She is the most athletic player on the team but is very inexperienced. While she did play in 27 games as a freshman and made four starts, she was used mostly for her defensive ability. If she can stay consistent on offense, UMBC can be a serious contender in the conference with a bevy of high scoring guards on the outside and Obajolu and Meghan Colebella on the inside.

That duo inside did not let the Albany offense get going in the game. Albany has been successful when they have gotten the to the rim, but the defensive presence of Obajolu and Colabella forced Albany to take 24 three-pointers, which did not go well for them as they made just 20.8% of their attempts. Albany shot just 35.7% from the floor and only managed to score 22 points in the paint.

After two straight road wins the team is going to return home for three straight road games as they will face New Hampshire, Binghamton, and Vermont in a span of six days.

It is very rare to see a victory when only five players manage to score in a game, but for the UMBC women’s basketball team those five players outscored the Maine Black Bears, 61-52, for their first conference victory.

Carlee Cassidy recorded her first double-double of the season with a game-high 19 points and game-high 11 rebounds. While Stern said she has been improving her shot selection over the course of the season, she shot an astonishing 57.4% in the game off an 8-14 performance from the field and 2-8 performance from three-point range.

Sophomore’s Michelle Kurowski and Erin Brown each added to their good starts to the seasons with 17 and 15 points, respectively. Brown also recorded seven rebounds and had a team high three three-pointers.

The two other players to score for UMBC were Topé Obajolu, who had six points and four rebounds, and Katie Brooks, who scored four points.

For a second straight game it was the defense that showed up big and kept the game in hand. While a slow start on offense nullified the defensive effort against Hartford, this time the offense was able to limit their turnovers and allowed the defense to lead them to a win.

While Kristin Baker scored 17 points for the Black Bears the Retriever defense only allowed 35 points from the rest of the team while Maine shot just 32.7% from the field.

With the win the Retrievers have evened their conference record and will travel to Albany on Wednesday January 13 to play in a 12:00 game.

Albany, who was picked to finish last in the America East in the pre-season polls, is coming off a rough loss to Vermont, but has certainly surprised everybody as they are 7-7 this season. They are a guard-oriented team that does not have a true number one scoring option, but rather they have a very balanced offense with six players able to take the reigns in a particular game.

On Sunday, the women’s basketball team finished their six game road trip but their first appearance in 2010 did not go as hopped as they suffered a 74-44 defeat to Virginia Tech, the finial non-conference opponent of the season.

UMBC’s record no stands at 6-7 as they return home for the start of conference play against Hartford on January 6.

The Retrievers’ momentum from two straight wins earlier this week was ended by the much more athletic Hokies, who led the entire game. Sophomore guard Michelle Kurowski was the only Retriever to score in double figures as she scored 13 points in the contest. Carlee Cassidy and Erin Brown each added eight points and Katie Brooks had seven and a team leading seven rebounds and three assists.

Virginia Tech quickly built a ten point lead at the 13:24 mark in the first half, with a score of 17-7. From that point on Virginia Tech doubled their lead to do into the locker rooms with a 46-26 advantage.

The Hokies continued to build on that leas as the second half got underway. With the score standing at 55-28, with 16:37 to play in the game, the Retrievers attempted a rally, going on an eight point run across two minute. However, that effort was not enough as the Hokies were able to build the lead back up to a gam high 32 during a stretch in which UMBC did not score from the field in a little over 10 minutes. Their only point during the stretch was a free throw from Brooks.

The Retrievers shot just 30% from the field and were beaten in second chance points, 19-2.

Comments can be sent to bwrigh1@umbc.edu.