EMMITSBURG, Md. (December 10, 2022) – Graduate student Michaela Harrison tallied one of her finest performances shooting the ball for Mount St. Mary's women's basketball. For the fourth time as a collegiate player, Harrison went off for 30 points and led the Mountaineers to a second half comeback against the UMBC Retrievers, 63-57.
 
Junior Jessica Tomasetti and graduate student Natalie Villaflor added double figure scoring efforts, with Tomasetti registering 13 and Villaflor 11. Isabella Hunt led in rebounds and assists with a respective eight and three.
 
Aryna Taylor made her long-awaited and welcomed return after sitting out due an injury last March in the Northeast Conference semifinals. Working back into the lineup, the redshirt senior logged a pair of rebounds across 16 minutes playing time.
 
The victory levels out the Mount's record at 4-4 on the season, and they remain undefeated on the Knott Arena floor.
 
Mount St. Mary's went from shooting 27.6 percent in the opening 20 minutes to 41.9 percent in the second half. Turnovers fell from 11 giveaways before half to two after. 24 of Harrison's 30 points came after the teams returned from the locker room.
 
UMBC got off to the quick start, building an 8-2 lead within the first three minutes of the contest. On the opposite end, the Mount started 1-for-7 as possessions, slowed by a Retriever press. Harrison connected on a trey with 5:37 left to break the stalemate. The Retrievers maintained an edge of three points or more through the end of the period.
 
Continuing to be befuddled by the press, it took four minutes for Tomasetti to attack for an old-fashioned three-point play. By then the visitors accumulated an advantage of 12. However, the aggressive stance sparked a 7-0 run to cut the lead down to four. That was as close as the Mount got as UMBC countered to lead 27-20 at the break.
 
Hitting the ground running, layups from Villaflor and Harrison immediately trimmed in deficit down to a single point. For several minutes the lead stayed within one or two possessions. Before the media timeout, UMBC pushed ahead once more with two drives, the second of which resulted in an and-one. Back-and-forth the teams went until the final seconds, when a clutch and contested triple for Harrison put the Mount on top, 41-39.
 
Both sides flipped the lead up to a 53-53 tie within three minutes. Vilalflor connected on a free throw with 2:33 left to go ahead. Laycee Drake – who provided many clutch shots for the Retrievers – stole a pass for a breakaway layup, but Harrison converted a stop-and-pop to make it 56-55 Mount with a minute and a half left. The ensuing possession resulted in a missed shot and a rebound by Tomasetti, who was fouled in an instant.
 
After making one of two bonus throws, UMBC traveled on the other end, giving Harrison one more opportunity to shine. With a mid-range floater, the Mount went up by two scores as the Knott Arena crowd erupted. Foul shots cemented the victory.
 
Mount St. Mary's begins Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play next Saturday with a road game at Manhattan. Tip-off is at 2 p.m. from Draddy Gymnasium.