the Informer

The UMBC women’s team will be the No. 6 seed in the America East Conference tournament. On Friday, March 5, at 2:15 p.m., the Retrievers will take on No. 3 seed Boston University.

The women of UMBC had a season that did not go as well as planned but not terrible either. They finished with an overall record of 13-16 and a conference record of 7-9.

The retrievers were fairly balanced when it came to playing at home or on the road but since they played more games away they won more in that situation. The University of Virginia was their first opponent of the season and the result was a loss. From then on, the team endured small winning and losing streaks back and forth. Out of conference, standout wins came against Towson University, Navy and East Carolina University. Out of conference, losses came against Saint Joseph, Delaware, West Virginia and Virginia Tech.

Within the America East conference, UMBC was able to sweep first-round matchup Boston University, Maine and Albany, while also grabbing one win against New Hampshire. Hartford, Binghamton, Stony Brook and Vermont were able to sweep the Retrievers.

Players to keep an eye on for the UMBC women’s team are senior guard Carlee Cassidy, sophomore guard Michelle Kurowski, and big sophomore center Topé Obajolu, three out of four of the team’s top scorers. Since Cassidy is the only senior, UMBC’s young guards are going to have to work hard at leading the team and setting up the already undersized forwards and centers.

As a team, UMBC statistically fared well against their opponents by scoring only about 150 less points than their opponents score.

They were also out rebounded, had less steals, and were out shot from beyond the arc by their opponents. Their shooting inside the arc was better along with free throw percentage, turnover margin, and did the same in blocks against their opponents.

The UMBC women are going into their first-round game winning three of their last five games of the regular season, including first round opponent Boston University.

This could be a big enough momentum boost to push them over Boston and then either Albany or Vermont in the semifinal.

A win in the championship game is even possible, something they accomplished in 2007 when they won their first and only championship title. If this is to going to happen, excellent guard play is going to be needed. UMBC must stick to the basics and not turn the ball over and get rebounds at all costs.

The fact that the Retrievers beat Boston University in both matchups during the regular season makes them an even opponent and gives them a legitimate shot even if they are the lower seed.