UMBC Sports Blog

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The Mission- Get 1,000 people in the RAC to watch the Women’s basketball team take on #14 Virginia.

It’s a new year and the women’s basketball team has a huge game to open the season. They will take on one of the top teams in the nation. Their ranking doesn’t matter though. They have no wins, anything can happen. Go out and support the women’s basketball team for the big game. If you want to be a true fan you’ll go and support them. Don’t say they are outmatched so you don’t want to go, you say lets show Virginia how hard it is to play here. Last season the most people to go to a game was 861, so I know it is at least possible to get that many again. It’s on a Friday night, it’s free, it’s your team, it’s probably the most talented team UMBC has ever had, go out and cheer your lungs out and tell all your friends to be there and watch them as they get one of their biggest upsets ever.

WEAR BLACK!!!!!!!

Coaches Poll
1. Vermont (5)
2. Hartford (4)
3. Binghamton
4. New Hampshire
5. Boston U
6. UMBC
7. Stony Brook
8. Maine
9. Albany

(# of first place votes)

There is no reason UMBC should be picked that low. They should be at worst fourth. They return 96% of their offense from last year while New Hampshire and Boston U lost significant amounts of talent. But when you finish fourth in the conference and return pretty much everything you should never move down in the next seasons preseason rankings. I’ll get up women’s rankings in a few days but that was strikingly odd.

First Team All-Conference
1. Courtnay Pilypaitis*
2. Erica Beverly*
3. Carlee Cassidy
4. May Kotsopoulos
5. Diana Delva

*unanimous selection

These selections are completely reasonable. Candice Williams could move into that five but my only question is: what does Cassidy has to do to get a unanimous first team selection. Granted it is preseason but still, she led the conference two straight years in scoring.

The television schedule for UMBC men’s basketball team has been announced.

Nov. 17- vs. Loyola (MASN)
Nov. 24- vs. Coppin State (MASN)
Dec. 8- @ Penn State (Big Ten Network)
Jan 18- @ Stony Brook (MASN)
Feb. 11- @ Hartford (MASN)

Non-UMBC Games:
Nov. 9- Albany @ Syracuse (ESPNU)
Nov. 17- Binghamton @ Pittsburgh (ESPN 2)
Nov. 17- George Washington @ Boston U (NESN)

Dec. 2- Boston U @ Connecticut (SNY/WCTX)
Dec. 11- Sacred Hear @ Hartford (CTSN)
Dec. 22- Maine @ Connecticut (SNY/WCTX)
Dec. 29- Hartford @ Kentucky (ESPN 2)
Dec. 30- Albany @ North Carolina (AETV: ESPNU)

Jan. 2- Stony Brook @ Boston U- AETV: MSG/NESN
Jan. 3- Yale @ Albany (TW3)
Jan. 10- Hartford @ Binghamton (AETC: NESN/TW)
Jan. 17- Boston U @ Vermont (AETV: ESPN U)
Jan. 24- Albany @ Stony Brook (AETV: MSG)
Jan. 27- Vermont @ New Hampshire (AETV: NESN)

Feb. 4- New Hampshire @ Boston U (AETV: NESN)
Feb. 6- Boston U @ Albany (TW3)
Feb. 9- New Hampshire @ Albany (TW3)
Feb. 9- Vermont @ Boston U (AETV: CSN)
Feb. 17- Maine @ New Hampshire (AETV CSN)
Feb. 24- Vermont @ Stony Brook (AETV: MSG/NESN)
Feb. 27- Maine @ Boston U (AETV: CSN)

Mar. 7- AE Championship Semifinals (AETV)
Mar. 13- AE Championship Finals (ESPN 2)

Women’s Schedule:

Note: UMBC women’s basketball does not have any televised games

Nov. 14- Quinnipiac @ Hartford (NESN)
Nov. 17- Louisville @ Hartford (CTSN)
Nov. 18- Rhode Island @ Boston U (NESN)
Nov. 28- Temple @ Hartford (CSTN)

Dec. 3- Vermont @ Connecticut (CPTV)
Dec. 10- Hartford @ Connecticut (CPTV)
Dec. 13- Noertheastern @ Hartford (CTSN)
Dec. 19- Hartford @ Marist (TW6)

Jan. 16- Hartford @ Binghamton (AETV: NESN/TW)
Jan. 24- Albany @ Hartford (CTSN)
Jan. 26- Hartford @ Vermont (AETV: NESN)

Feb. 6- Vermont @ Albany (TW3)
Feb. 18- Binghamton @ Hartford (AETV: CTSN/TW)
Feb. 27- Vermont @ Hartford (CTSN)

Mar. 7- AE Championship Semifinals (AETV)
Mar. 13- AE Championship Finals (AETV: CSN)

If you weren’t at midnight madness then shame on you but here are the highlights anyway:

Dance Routine by Major Definition- a UMBC based Hip-Hop dance crew

The UMBC cheer team performance- One again they failed to give up their lame cheers. UM-BC, UM-BC,…five minutes long. Also, there are three guys on the team now.

The Band- as always- they rock.

Dance Team- as always, they were really good.

Featured Twirler Stasi Kowalewski- Yea she’s not a world champion for nothing.

Washington Wizards Dunk Team- If you’ve ever seen the dunk show at halftime that’s what it was

Women’s Basketball Team Introduction

Phil Stern Spoke after the introduction (Sorry I planned on recording it but it was WAY to loud and I couldn’t make out anything he said on the recorder but basically he was saying how the goal is no to win a men’s and women’s championship in the same year and how the crowd is a big part of success and how fans should go to games. (Which you all should. The women’s team is very good. Carlee Cassidy is arguable the most dynamic player in the conference and there is a lot of young talent with her. My goal is to get 1,000 people to their first game against Virginia)

Men’s Basketball Team Introduction

Monroe spoke after and again I don’t have the exact quotes but he was pretty much saying that the crowd is the sixth man and he then really praised Matt Spadafora.

Surprise performance- turned out to be a women’s team dance-off

Women’s Basketball 3-point contest

Players: Carlee Cassidy, Erin Brown, Chelsea Barker, Meghan Colabella

Round 1- Colabella vs. Brown- Brown
Round 1- Cassidy vs. Barker (double over time)- Cassidy
Finals- Cassidy vs. Brown- Brown
Winner- Erin Brown

Men’s basketball slam dunk contest

Players: Robbie Jackson, Jake Wasco Chauncey Gilliam, Bakari Smith

Round 1: Only person to make dunk was Gilliam-
Final: Gilliam vs. Jackson- Gilliam Wins second straight dunk contest

Non-Conference Schedule

Nov 13: Virginia
Nov 15: UMES
Nov 21: St. Joseph’s
Nov 24: Towson
Nov 29: Bucknell
Dec 2: Navy
Dec 6: Delaware
Dec 12: Coppin State
Dec 20: Loyola
Dec 22: West Virginia
Dec 28: East Carolina (Fordham Holiday Classic)
Dec 29: Fordham (Fordham Holiday Classic)
Jan 3: Virginia Tech

Home Games in Bold

I like and hate this schedule. I hate it because there are only four home games and fans want to see there team play. While the average Women’s basketball game only gets between 200-400 people, I’ll make it my personal duty to pack the RAC for those four non-conference home games.

the good part aout this schedule is that it is probably best for the team. Last year the team was terrible on the road and it was worse when conference games came. Now they see the road so much in non-conference play they will be ready when it all counts.

But as for the opponents. Getting Virginia to come to the RAC is a big deal. I don’t know how Phil Stern pulled that one off but congratulations to him. That’s probably the biggest non-conference team to come to the RAC…ever. But then getting St. Joseph’s, West Virginia, and Virginia Tech is going to give UMBC a lot of exposure. No matter if it’s men’s or women’s sports, playing teams from the ACC, Big East, and A-10, gets you exposure and that’s huge for UMBC and Phil Stern’s basketball team.

But It’s also nice to see that Stern understands the importance of playing in-state rivals. While the other sports would like to do it, sometimes it just isn’t possible due to the other party, but for Stern to have five in-state tams play him is big for two reasons. First, it potentially gives fans a sense of pride of us being the best team in the state. But more importantly for Phil Stern and UMBC basketball, if they do well against those teams, the potential recruits from the state of Maryland will see that and want to play for the best team in the State (excluding Maryland which is on a different level of recruiting) and that gives the team a big advantage in recruiting.

Fall Sports:

Men’s Soccer-
MVP: Andrew Bulls (8 goals, 2 assists)
Freshman of the Year: Andrew Bulls (8 goals,, 2 assists)

Women’s Soccer-
MVP: Morgan Warrington (5 Goals, 1 assist)
Freshman of the Year: Mo Van Vlerah (35 saves, 67.3%)

Volleyball-
MVP: Alyssa Lang (319 kills, 317 digs)
Freshman of the Year: Alyssa Lang (319 kills, 317 digs)

Men’s Cross Country-
MVP: Paul Zwama

Women’s Cross Country-
MVP: Sara Parkinson

Winter Sports:

Men’s Basketball-
MVP: Darryl Proctor (20.0ppg, 8.8rpg, 46.7 FG%)
Freshman of the Year: Chauncey Gilliam (10.9ppg, 4.4rpg, 51.4 FG%)

Women’s Basketball-
MVP: Carlee Cassidy (20.4ppg, 35.8 FG%, 32.1 3-pt%)
Freshman of the Year: Michelle Kurowski (13.7ppg, 4.6rpg, 40.6 FG%)

Men’s Swimming and Diving-
MVP: Justin Bronson

Women’s Swimming and Diving-
MVP: Samantha Maccherola

Men’s Indoor Track and Field-
MVP: Adrian Arthur

Women’s Track and Field-
MVP: Imani Colbert

Spring Sports:

Men’s Lacrosse-
MVP: Jeremy Blevins (151 saves, 54.5%)
Freshman of the Year: Rob Grimm (10 goals, 17 assists, 18 ground balls)

Women’s Lacrosse-
MVP: Kara Dorr (40 goals, 10 assists, 26 ground balls)
Freshman of the Year: Emily Coady (22 goals, 13 assists, 11 ground balls)

Baseball-
MVP: Shawn Retz (.380, 60 hits, 27 runs, .627 Slg%, 9 Home runs)
Freshman of the Year: Max Himmelstein (.303, 40 hits, 18 runs, .432 Slg%, 3 Home runs)

Softball-
MVP: Stephanie Weigman (2.20 ERA, 22-16, 245.0 Innings Pitched, 293 strikeouts)
Freshman of the Year: Keala Mason (.255, 13 hits, 5 runs, .353 SLG%, 1 HR)

Men’s Indoor Track and Field-
MVP: Victor Gilreath

Women’s Track and Field-
MVP: Britney Foreman

Men’s Tennis-
MVP: Fredi Voorman

Women’s Tennis-
MVP: Cornelia Carapcea

Final Awards

Men’s POY: Darryl Proctor
Women’s POY: Stephanie Weigman

Men’s ROY: Andrew Bulls
Women’s ROY: Michelle Kurowski

On Friday Carlee Cassidy broke the UMBC record for most points in a season with a 10 point performance giving her 613 points, breaking Tammy McCarthy’s record of 609 set in the 1985-85 season, but her effort was not enough as UMBC dropped the conference tournament opener to Binghamton, 66-54.

Although Cassidy broke the school record the best retriever on the court was freshman Michelle Kurowski, who became the third retriever ever to score 400 points in a season with 23 points. Without Kurowski the final score would have been much farther from the 12 points they lost by. She was the only retriever who could find a rhythm from the floor. The team as a whole went 14-50 (28%) from the floor and Kurowski went 7-11 (63.6%).

At the end of the season awards banquet Kurowski was one of three retrievers called up for an award as she was selected to the all-rookie team along with Erin Brown (Cassidy was the third as she was selected to the second team all-AEC), but she was not selected as rookie of the year. That award went to Binghamton’s Andrea Holmes who Kurowski had better stats in ever category in except steals (they were tied) and assists but unlike Kurowski, Holmes is a point guard.

“I definitely think that was a reason I had an extra boost of energy because it is disappointing that I didn’t get it,” she said. “I was on the all-rookie team which is amazing but I just wanted to leave everything out there because it can potentially be your last game, which it was.”

But the future is still bright for UMBC as potentially everybody returns for next season. In the beginning of the year senior Chantay Fraizer left the team because of family issues, leaving UMBC with no seniors on the roster, leaving Phil Stern to believe his team overachieved this season as they were picked fifth in the preseason poll with Frazier but finished fifth without her and new offensive system.

“We’ve never talked about how young we were all season but we do have five great freshmen to build around and the future is certainly bright with our freshman and Carlee coming back as a senior,” Stern said.

At first glance I was shocked to see that Carlee Cassidy missed first team all conference, and at second and third and every glance after that I’m still shocked. She lead the conference in points and it wasn’t even close. It shouldn’t matter what the team’s record is, it should be the five best players on the first team. So in both men’s and women’s basketball the leading scorer in the conference didn’t make the first team which is just plan stupid. Cassidy had a phenominal year, hopefully she’ll just take it out on everybody in the tournament.

Where else did UMBC get screwed in this deal? How about the rookies. I didn’t expect Brooks to make either team or for Brown or Kurowski to make second or third team mostly because they never vote rookie on, except this year when Andrea Holmes won rookie of the year and was on the third team. I don’t know how she got the rookie of the year over Kurowski. Yes she was the best player on Binghamton’s team and Kurowski was not the best on her’s, but it’s hard to be better than Carlee Cassidy.

Here’s their Stats:

Kurowski- 13.3ppg, 4.7rpg, 1.7apg, 1.6spg, .399FG%, .308 3-pt%

Holmes- 9.9ppg, 4.6rpg, 4.1apg, 1.6spg, .351FG%, .260 3-pt%

It’s a toss up but Holmes is the point guard and Kurowski isn’t which leads m to believe Kurowski had the much better year since that was the only stat she didn’t lead in between the two.

All you can hope for is they just play with a chip on their shoulder and plow through Binghamton in the opening round game of the tournament

Probable Starters:

No. 5 UMBC (14-15, 6-10):
F- Meghan Colabella (6.5ppg, 6.2rpg, .414FG%)
F- Erin Brown (9.4ppg, 5.7rpg, .452FG%)
G- Carlee Cassidy (20.8ppg, 2.6rpg, 1.9apg)
G- Michelle Kurowski (13.3ppg, 4.7rpg, 1.7apg)
G- Michele Brokans (1.6ppg, 3.9rpg, 3.7apg)

Key Reserves
G- Katie Brooks (9.4ppg, 3.2rpg, 2.1apg)

Binghamton (13-16, 8-8):
F- Laura Franceski (8.8ppg, 5.9rpg, .415FG%)
F- Viive-Cai Rebane (7.8ppg, 5.5rpg, .474FG%)
G- Erica Carter (10.2ppg, 2.8rpg, 0.7apg)
G- Andrea Holmes (9.9ppg, 4.6rpg, 4.1apg)
G- Darryll Peterson (6.4ppg, 4.9rpg, 40.5FG%)

Key Reserve
G- Muffy Sadler (6.3ppg, 2.5rpg, .467FG%)
G- Jackie Ward (6.1ppg, 2.0rpg, 1.2apg)

Anything goes in the conference tournament. Getting a win would be huge for UMBc and they may just come out ith a grudge as Cassidy was a second teamer and Kurowski was left off as rookie of the year for Binghamton’s Andrea Holmes. Is it weird that the highest scorign player in the men’s and women’s side were both left off the first team all-conference team? Any rate it is a swing game as the teams split this season. UMBC has been terrible on the road because they are so young but they do have more talent than Binghamton, just bad luck and inexperience.

While is was an improvement over other performances against top teams it was still a loss going into the tournament. A matter of fact it’s three losses in a row going into the tournament, which means you have no momentum going into it. But thats for another post. Katie Brooks had another start and lead all scorers with 28 while Cassidy was second with 24 points (12 points from behind the arc). It’s bad when you have the two top scorers in th game and don’t win but all it says is everybody needs to be consistent, expecially those three freshman. Tonight it was Brooks, the last two games it was Kurowski, and before that it was Brown. But I guess it is asking a lot from freshman to step up and carry the team.