West Harford, Conn. - Senior Kirsten Jeter (Elmont, N.Y.) led three Seawolves in double-figures with 17 points but Michelle Kurowski had 26 points and 13 rebounds to lead the No. 1 UMBC Retrievers to a 74-65 victory over the No. 8 Stony Brook University women's basketball team in an America East quarterfinal game on Friday at Chase Arena.
Jeter also pulled down 11 rebounds and become the sixth player in program history to score 1,500 points in the second half. Sophomore Juanita Cochran (Saginaw, Mich.) added 15 points and seven rebounds while sophomore Sam Landers (Springfield, Va.) chipped in with 10 points.
UMBC had just nine made field goals in the second half but went 23-for-31 from the line in the period. After shooting over 40 percent in three of the last four games, the Seawolves were held to 36.1 percent shooting. Stony Brook finishes the season at 7-23.
The Seawolves trailed by 10 with 2:10 left but scored the next four points to get within six and then forced a UMBC turnover in the backcourt. But junior Tamiel Murray (Teaneck, N.J.) missed on a contest lay-up and Meghan Colabella leaked out for an easy lay-up on the other end to put the game away.
Stony Brook led 11-7 early but UMBC then went on a 14-4 run to take a 21-14 lead with eight minutes left in the half. SBU closed within three on back-to-back hoops from sophomore Gerda Gatling (Woodbridge, Va.) and junior Destiny Jacobs (Glen Burnie, Md.) but the Retrievers held the Seawolves scoreless over the next six minutes, building their lead to 27-18.
Gatling banked in a three from the left wing with the shot clock winding down to end the Stony Brook drought and cut the UMBC lead to six. Tope Obajolu hit two free throws to push the Retriever lead back to eight but Cochran scored an inside hoop in the final minutes as the Seawolves went into the break trailing 29-23.
After hitting six of their first 12 shots, the Seawolves went cold, going 3-for-14 the rest of the half.
UMBC took control at the start of the second half, scoring seven of the first nine points to take a 36-25 lead. The Retrievers hit just three of their first eight shots of the half but went 8-for-11 from the foul line over the first six minutes
Stony Brook got within eight twice, first on a three from Landers and then on a two free throws from Cochran. But Kurowski and Colabella answered with back-to-back threes to push the Retriever lead to 14 midway though the half.
The Seawolves again rallied, going on an 8-2 run to climb within eight but SBU went scoreless over the next 2:30 as UMBC built its lead back to 12 with seven minutes to go. Stony Brook pulled within seven with just over two minutes left on a Jeter hoop but Michelle Brokans drilled a three from the corner to push the lead back to 10.
