BALTIMORE, Md. - UMBC shot 50% from the floor en route to a 56-48 win over the Tigers on Tuesday evening. Towson (4-4) got a game-high 13 points from Deree Fooks in the loss.

"You have to give credit to UMBC because they really fought and proved they wanted this game," said Coach Joe Mathews. "We battled in the game but we just gave them too many opportunities and they converted their shots."

The Tigers jumped out to a quick 4-0 advantage in the game behind buckets from Fooks and Sheree Ledbetter. UMBC responded by scoring 13 of the next 16 points to take a 13-7 advantage with 11:58 to play in the half. Michelle Kurowski had five of the Retrievers points during that stretch. The two teams traded baskets with a Jaleesa Dryver free throw at 7:02 making it a 15-11 game. UMBC would push its lead to 19-11, it's largest of the half, with 6:08 to play. Erin Brown recorded all four of the points for the Retrievers. Towson would close the half on an 11-3 run to tie the game at 22-22. Fooks and Krystal Parnell had four points apiece during that spurt.

The two squads would trade buckets for the first six plus minutes of the second stanza. A Ledbetter lay-up with 13:41 to play tied the game at 32-32. A Brown lay-up at 13:24 jump started a 16-7 run by the Retrievers. The run was capped by a Kurowski jumper at 2:53 and the home team led 48-39. Brown had six of UMBC's 16 points during that stretch. Towson responded with a run of its own to cut the lead to 51-48 with 39 seconds to play. Parnell had four during that stretch to lead the Tigers. That would be as close as the Tigers would get. UMBC went 5-of-6 from the foul line in the final 30 seconds to clinch the victory.

Fooks added four rebounds, three steals and a block in addition to her 13 tallies. Ledbetter finished with 12 points and led Towson on the boards with eight. Parnell tallied nine points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals in the game.

Kurowski led UMBC with 17 points and seven rebounds while Tope Obajolu contributed 16 points. Brown was the third Retriever in double figures with 15 points while Meghan Colabella dished out eight assists.

UMBC finished the game shooting 50% from the floor and 70% from the foul line. Towson shot 30.9% from the floor and 70.6% from the foul line. Both teams had 18 turnovers in the contest.

The Tigers will now take a break for finals and return to action on Saturday, December 18 when they travel to UMES for a 3 p.m. game.

-- TIGERS --