On Saturday, March 5, the fourth seed UMBC women’s basketball team traveled to Binghamton University to face off against the fifth seed Binghamton in the opening quarter final round of the America East Conference Tournament. Binghamton defeated UMBC in a close defensive matchup, 49–41, despite a hard fought performance by junior Pandora Wilson.
Even though the Retrievers displayed a strong defensive showing by only allowing 49 points, one of Binghamton’s lowest scoring games of the season. However, Binghamton put on an even stronger defensive showing by holding the Retrievers to a season low 41 points.
Wilson registered a double-double in the loss, scoring 19 points, throwing nine for 20 on the day, while also grabbing 11 rebounds, 10 of which were defensive. Wilson briefly gave the Retrievers a momentary lead in the third quarter, but Binghamton immediately took it back and never let it go.
Wilson was also one of two Retrievers to receive all-conference honors this season. Wilson was named to the All-Conference Second Team for her performance this season. Wilson ranked in the top 10 of six statistical categories in the conference, including offensive rebounds which she ranked third with an average of 2.9 rebounds per game. She also ranked ninth in scoring in the conference with 14.4 points per game.
Junior Taylor McCarley was named to the All-Defensive Team and the First Team All-Conference. McCarley led the team in scoring with 14.8 points per game, which ranked sixth in the conference. She also ranked second in the America East in assists with 5.2 per game, and third in steals averaging 2.5 per game.
It was a historic season for McCarley as she not only scored her 1,000th point this season, but she also broke a pair of free throw records. McCarley now owns the school record for free throws made and attempted.
Overall, it was a fairly average season for the Retrievers with the team failing to impress as a whole in any key team statistics. For the most part, the team was in the middle of the pack of most statistics, only ranking third in turnover margin and assist/turnover ratio and second in steals. The Retrievers also ranked last in the conference in offensive rebounds, barely averaging 10 per game, and ranked fifth in scoring margin, being outscored by opponents by an average margin of 1.3.
The Retrievers will return next season in hopes of reclaiming the America East Tournament Champions title, which they have previously only earned once in 2007.
