BALTIMORE - UMBC women's basketball is set to battle the University of Virginia on Thursday evening in Charlottesville. Tip-off inside John Paul Jones Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Thursday night's contest will be the fifth all-time meeting between UMBC and Virginia and the first since 2023. The Cavaliers are 4-0 all-time against the Retrievers, with the first matchup between the programs taking place in 2009.
LAST TIME OUT
- UMBC is 1-1 on the season after falling 87-54 to 10th-ranked Maryland on Thursday night in College Park. The Retrievers battled hard and got impressive showings from Heidi Williams, Kennedy Austin, and Jade Tillman, but a 27-10 third quarter for the Terrapins broke the game open.
- The team's leading scorer through two games, Jade Tillman scored 17 points, going a perfect 8-8 from the free-throw line. Tillman added four rebounds, four steals, and two blocks in 36 minutes. The freshman duo of Austin and Williams continued great starts to their collegiate career with impressive showings off the bench. Austin added 14 points on 6-9 shooting, including a pair of buzzer-beating threes in the first half, while Williams chipped in with 12 points, four rebounds, and two steals.
- The Retrievers forced the nation's 10th-ranked team into 18 turnovers, but the Terrapins shot an efficient 54.2 percent from the field and had four scorers in double figures led by 15 each from Oluchi Okanawa and Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu.
- UMBC shot 38 percent from the floor in the loss, 38.5 percent from three, and knocked down all 11 of its free throws. The team's 31 bench points edged the Terrapin group by two.
- Virginia moved to 2-0 on the season with an 80-35 victory over Bucknell on Sunday afternoon. The Cavaliers were dominant early, taking a 26-6 advantage over the Bison after 10 minutes. Virginia shot 47.7 percent from the floor and made 73.3 percent of its shots in the opening quarter. Kymora Johnson led the way with 23 points and seven assists while Tabitha Amanze added a double-double with 11 points and 11 boards.
SCOUTING THE CAVALIERS
- Virginia is blitzing teams in the early going of the 2025-26 season, averaging 83.0 points per contest and allowing just 35.5. The Cavaliers rank fourth in the country in scoring defense and 22nd nationally in scoring margin, beating its first two opponents by 47.5 points per game.
- The Cavaliers also rank in the top-10 nationally in blocks per game (2nd, 9.0), fouls per game (2nd, 9.0), rebound margin (3rd, 30.0), field goal percentage defense (5th, 25.0), and rebounds per game (6th, 55.0).
- Kymora Johnson is the engine of the offense, ranking 19th nationally with 23.5 points per contest. She also in the top-40 in assists per game, handing out 6.0 per contest. Shooting 58.1 percent from the floor, Johnson is averaging 23.5 points, 6.0 assists, 4.5 rebounds, and three steals per game. The Preseason All-ACC selection was named to the Naismith Trophy Player of the Year Preseason Watch List, the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year Award Preseason Top-20 Watchlist, and was ranked 15th in ESPN's preseason top 25. She has 1,110 career points in 66 career games, good for 16.8 per contest.
- Tabitha Amanze leads the Cavaliers on the glass with 9.5 rebounds per game. She's also chipped in with 19 points and seven blocks in the opening two contests. Romi Levy (7.5), Paris Clark (6.0), Adeang Ring (6.0), and Gabby White (6.0) give Virginia five players averaging 6.0 or more rebounds per game.
SCOUTING THE DAWGS
- Candice Hill's newcomer class has been stellar to open the season for the Retrievers, with the group combining for 76 percent of the team's scoring through the first two games. 109 of the team's 144 points have been scored by incoming transfers or freshmen. The team's three top scorers, Tillman (19.5), H. Williams (14.0), and Austin (11.5), are all new to the Retrievers for the 2025-26 season. Alaina Williams is the team's top returning scorer through two games, averaging 7.5 points per contest.
- Delaney Yarborough and A. Williams lead the Dawgs on the boards with 6.5 and 4.5 rebounds per game, respectively. Yarborough had a near double-double in her UMBC debut with 9 points and 11 rebounds vs. Stevenson. With 15 assists in the first two games of the year, Carmen Yánez ranks 11th in the country in assists per game.
- The UMBC bench has provided a great boost to start the season, ranking 44th nationally in bench points at 36.5 per game.
- Defensively, UMBC ranks in the top-50 nationally in turnovers forced per game (28th, 27.0), and steals per game (46th, 14.0).
- The Dawgs have been nearly automatic at the charity stripe to start the season, knocking down 83.3 percent of 36 free throw attempts to rank #18 in the country in free throw percentage.
GETTING TO KNOW THE DAWGS
- Hill's program features five returners and eight newcomers in 2025-26. Carmen Yánez is the lone returning starter for UMBC, while fellow captain Tiara Bellamy is expected to fill a larger role. Also back are junior Alaina Williams, and sophomores Lauren Thompson and Kenya Ramsey.
- UMBC's eight newcomers are split between four transfers and four freshmen.
- The 2025-26 Retrievers represent three countries and six states.
- Maryland (5) -> Austin, Scott, Tillman, H. Williams, Yarborough
- New Jersey (2) -> Bellamy, Slomack
- Connecticut (1) -> Thompson
- Florida (1) -> A. Williams
- Virginia (1) -> Ramsey
- West Virginia (1) -> Jones
- Spain (1) -> Yánez
- England (1) -> Crowley
- Yánez, Bellamy, and Yarborough will captain the program in 2025-26. Yánez started 28 games last season and handed out five or more assists in seven different games. Bellamy averaged just under four points per game off the bench in year one as a Retriever after transferring from Saint Peter's. Yarborough, the veteran transfer from NC A&T, posted five games with at least five rebounds and put forth her best performance of the season (9 pts, 6 reb) against her former school, Stony Brook.
2024-25 IN REWIND
- The 2024-25 Retrievers posted a record of 14-15 in year one under Candice Hill, matching the 2022-23 record for the most wins since 2016-17 for UMBC women's hoops.
- UMBC reached the America East Conference Tournament as the #7 seed before falling to #2 Vermont, 70-39. The Retrievers held a two-point lead after the opening 10 minutes before the Catamounts pulled away.
- The name of the game for the Retrievers in 2024-25 was defense as UMBC ranked in the top-65 in the country in scoring defense, allowing just 59.1 points per game. The Retrievers defended the three-point line extremely well, finishing the season 37th in Division I and second in the America East as teams shot just 28.1 percent from deep.
- UMBC was also stellar at the charity stripe last season, knocking down its free throws at a 74.7 percent clip, ranking in the top-80 in Division I and recording the third-best mark in program history.
- Under Hill's guidance, the Retrievers improved offensively from behind the three-point line (29.5% -> 30.4 %) and the free-throw line (67.8% -> 74.7%). The Retrievers also handed out 10.4 assists per game compared to 9.9 the season prior and turned the ball over 1.3 fewer times per game in 2024-25.
AMERICA EAST PRESEASON POLL
1. Vermont 63 (7)
2. Maine 55 (2)
3. Bryant 46
4. UAlbany 42
5. NJIT 37
6. Binghamton 26
7. New Hampshire 24
8. UMBC 23
9. UMass Lowell 8
WHAT'S NEXT
- After Thursday's meeting, UMBC will return home to host Brown on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. Sunday's contest will be game two of a UMBC Hoops Doubleheader inside Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena as the men host Wagner at 12 p.m. Fans will be able to attend both contests for the price of one ticket and 500 clear bags will be provided courtesy of International Education Week. Get your tickets HERE and we'll see you at the 'Peake on Sunday!
