Coming off a 66-52 loss to Binghamton University, the UVM women’s basketball team lost 74-60 against the University of Maryland, Baltimore County on Feb. 20. UMBC had a 7-6 conference record at the start of the game, and recently beat the University of Hartford 58-51 on Feb. 17. UVM, on the other hand, has struggled to find consistency in the league, starting the game with a 2-11 conference record according to UVM athletics/. The first quarter began slowly for Vermont. UMBC opened the game with nine straight points until first-year forward Candice Wright scored a layup to start Vermont’s day. UMBC dominated the first quarter, lead by Taylor McCarley and Pandora Wilson. “The first quarter for us was definitely difficult for us,” sophomore guard Sydney Smith said. By the end of the game Wilson had scored 21 points, hitting eight of 15 attempted field goals. McCarley led the Retrievers with 26 points, shooting five of 15 from the field and making 14 of her team high 19 free throws, according to UVM athletics. In the dying seconds of the quarter, the Catamounts hit a jump shot to bring the score closer at 22-11. While Vermont had trouble moving the ball and finding open looks in the first quarter, the second quarter was the complete opposite. Smith came off the bench and made a few three-pointers to rally the Catamounts. For the game, Smith scored 19 points while shooting six of 10 from the field. “The bench always provides that extra bit of intensity that we need to push forward to make shots and good defensive plays,” she said. “It goes for the entire team.” “When we come in and we have that energy is when we do great things and make runs.” The intensity showed at the end of the first half, when UVM brought the game to 39-32. The bench played a role in this, scoring 42 of the Catamounts’ 60 points, according to UVM athletics. No points were scored by either team until about four and a half minutes into the second half. Despite the loss, Smith had some hopeful words after the game. “We saw a lot of improvements today,” she said. “The past couple weeks we’ve done a really good job of working more as a team, becoming more like one unit.” Smith said that she thought that the game was another step forward. In addition, Smith stressed the importance of the Catamounts making use of their last few games to improve. “Although the game didn’t go in our favor, we still have 2 or 3 regular season games left,” Smith said. “We really just need to go out there and utilize the time we have left and just put forth everything we’ve done this entire year and get some wins.” The team will next play a home game against the University of New Hampshire at 7 p.m. on Thursday. New Hampshire sits one place in front of Vermont in the America East standings, according to the league website. UVM is 2-12 in conference play while New Hampshire is 5-9, according to the website.