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LOWELL, Mass. – Nicole Hayner (Bedford, N.H.) scored a career-high 27 points and tied the program mark with seven three-pointers in a single game, but the UMass Lowell (3-25, 0-15) women's basketball team dropped its Senior Day matinee, 78-62, to the UMBC Retrievers (15-10, 10-4) on Saturday afternoon.
 
The senior tied Georgia Sanford's performance against Franklin Pierce in 1993.
 
Hayner started off her senior day with eight of UMass Lowell's first 12 points, connecting on two threes as the River Hawks led 12-9 with five minutes to go in the quarter. The Retrievers answered with a 10-0 run, with Laura Castaldo leading the charge with eight, to take a 19-12 advantage with 3:29 on the clock.
 
UMBC extended its lead to 22-12, before Hayner added to her third three of the afternoon, only to be answered by a Retriever triple. The visitors took a 31-15 lead into the second quarter, paced by 12 points from Castaldo.
 
The River Hawks cut to deficit to 37-29 with less than a minute to go in the half, behind six points from Kayla Gibbs (Teaneck, N.J.) in the period. UMass Lowell outscored UMBC 14-8 in the frame to enter the half trailing 39-29.
 
Hayner capped her career day in the third quarter, scoring 11 points and passing her previous personal best of 23 points. The senior set the program's Division I mark for three-pointers in a game, and tied the all-time record with her sixth and seventh threes in a span of 73 seconds.
 
UMBC was led by Castaldo's 24 points and 11 rebounds, while Allison McGrath scored 12 and both Te'yjah Oliver and Taylor McCarley chipped in 11 each.
 
Gibbs finished the contest with 12 points, and senior Asia Mitchell-Owens (Roxbury, Mass.) added 10 in her final home game.
 
The River Hawks wrap up their 2017 season with a trip up the road to Durham, New Hampshire to take on the Wildcats on February 23 at 7 p.m.