Strong Defense Propels UMBC Women's Basketball To First Win

The UMBC women's basketball team was looking to get its offense on track in Tuesday night's home opener against cross-town rival Coppin State after poor shooting led to two consecutive road losses to start the season.

And while the offense continued to struggle, the Retrievers tenacious defense paved the way for a 58-51 victory at RAC Arena. UMBC's Tope' Obajolu set a team record with seven blocks and the Retrievers forced 28 turnovers against the Eagles, who opened their season with an impressive seven-point victory over Towson.

"The traps made it easier for me to get blocks inside," Obajolu said. "I feel as though we still need to work on our offense more. Our defense is right where we need it to be. We need to keep that up for the next game and our offense will come from our defense."

Erin Brown had 15 points and Michelle Kurowski added 14 for UMBC. Larissa Carter scored 14 and Jeanine Manley, a 6-foot-3 center from Oakland, Calif., had 11 for Coppin State.

UMBC (1-2) adjusted its offense this season to focus more on the inside game rather than relying on 3-point shooting. The Retrievers were forced to make the change because of the graduation of Carlee Cassidy, who finished her career as the team's all-time leader in three-point field goals. The emergence of Obajolu, regarded as one of the top rebounders in the America East Conference, is expected to boost the inside game.

However, UMBC is struggling with this adjustment so far this season. After shooting just 30.2 percent in losses to Delaware and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, the Retrievers were 20-of-59 (33.9 percent) from the floor against Coppin State (1-1). The Eagles were just 20-of-71 (28.2 percent) from the field.

UMBC took its first lead, 14-13, on a layup by Obajolu with 10:31 left in the first half and did not trail again. The Retrievers made just four of their opening 14 shots, but began to find some rhythm as they continued to play up-tempo.

"We're very much a work in progress," UMBC coach Phil Stern said. "We're not shooting the ball well right now so it's actually a little more difficult than we thought it would be. We're getting the ball inside because we're not shooting it well from the perimeter. It's gonna take some time."

Consecutive 3-pointers by Amirah Tucker and Brown gave UMBC its biggest lead, 26-18, with 2:38 left in the first half. A pair of free throws by Brown gave the Retrievers a 29-19 lead at the break.

UMBC was strong defensively, forcing 17 of Coppin State's 28 turnovers in the opening half. The Eagles were just 7-of-30 from the floor (23.3 percent) and did not have a field goal in the final 4:11 of the opening half.

The Retrievers continued to control the game in the second half. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Kurowski and Brown, followed by a steal and layup by Barker, increased the lead to 16 with 12 minutes left in the game.

The Eagles tried to put together a late run, and a pair of free throws by Shawntae Payne cut the lead to 57-48 with 1:10 left in the game. Carter's layup cut the lead to six in the final minute, but that was as close as the Eagles would get.

"I sort of knew we were going to be in a game," Coppin State coach Derek Brown said. "Regardless of what they did the last two games, they were on the road and this is their first home game, so I knew they were going to come in and play hard. We were a little relaxed having won our first game."

UMBC hosts St. Joseph's on Saturday at 4 p.m. before hitting the road for three consecutive road games to round-out November.