November 27, 2002|By Jeff Zrebiec | Jeff Zrebiec,SUN STAFF
Last night's nonconference women's basketball game between UMBC and Morgan State was decided early, but the Retrievers' Phil Stern made sure he coached to the very end.
"We're coaching to make this team better every second," said Stern, whose team defeated the visiting Bears, 57-34, before 803 at RAC Arena. "I don't care what the score is, up or down. We're trying to make this team understand we have to be tough and execute for 40 minutes." Nevertheless, UMBC improved to 2-0 for the first time since the 1989-90 season. The 34 points Morgan scored were the fewest the Retrievers have allowed since the 1982-83 season.
Still, Stern wasn't exactly floored by his team's effort.
"I thought we played a decent first half and then I thought we weren't very confident in the second half," UMBC's first-year coach said. "We were sloppy and we turned the ball over 18 times."
UMBC had four players score in double figures: Anastasia Goncharova, Christine Catalanotto and Maria Brown each had 11 points. Senior point guard Jessie Brown added 10 points and six assists for the Retrievers, who shot 40.6 percent but were a respectable 8-for-20 from three-point range.
Morgan was led by junior Erinn Coleman's eight points on 4-for-7 shooting, but shot just 27.5 percent from the field. In three games this season - all losses - the Bears have not had a double-digit scorer.
"We have open looks, and we're not making them right now," said Bears first-year coach Angelyne Brown. "It's pure and simple."
The Retrievers took the drama out of the game with a 34-16 halftime lead.
Thanks to a short baseline jumper from Erin Voss and consecutive three-pointers from Maria Brown and Catalanotto, UMBC raced out to an 18-4 lead, prompting a Morgan timeout.
Having little trouble locating open shots, UMBC upped its lead to 24-9 as Jessie Brown finished an uncontested layup in transition with a little more than six minutes to play before halftime.
Morgan State, 1-27 last season, came into the game averaging only 35 points a game and shooting only 25 percent.
"We've played the same way for the past three games, and that's the unfortunate part," said Angelyne Brown. "I guess it could be a lot of factors: You're dealing with six freshmen, I'm new, it's a new system. I guess this is what they mean by growing pains because it is painful."
MORGAN STATE-Williams 0-5 0-0 0, Henry 0-1 0-0 0, Carter 3-15 0-0 7, Haulcy 2-8 2-2 6, Coleman 4-7 0-0 8, Vargas 2-4 0-0 4, Turner 2-8 0-0 6, Cox 1-3 0-0 3. Totals 14-51 2-2 34. UMBC-Green 1-3 1-4 3, Seamon 3-5 0-0 7, Coll 0-4 0-0 0, J.Brown 4-9 0-2 10, Goncharova 4-16 0-0 11, Catalanotto 4-8 0-1 11, Santos 0-0 0-1 0, M.Brown 3-5 2-2 11, Voss 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 21-52 3-10 57. Halftime-UMBC, 34-16. 3-point goals-MS 4-22 (Cox 1-2, Turner 2-7, Carter 1-8, Coleman 0-1, Haulcy 0-4); UMBC 12-30 (Seamon 1-1, M.Brown 3-4, J.Brown 2-4, Catalanotto 3-7, Goncharova 3-13, Coll 0-1). Fouled out-none. Rebounds-MS 29 (Vargas 7); UMBC 45 (Green, Seamon 9). Assists-MS 7 (Williams, Carter, Haulcy 2); UMBC 20 (J.Brown 6). Total fouls-MS 16; UMBC 8. A-803.
