BALTIMORE - Fresh off a historic victory on Thursday evening, UMBC hosts Brown on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. for a non-conference tilt.
Sunday's contest will be the fifth all-time meeting between UMBC and Brown and the first since 2017. The Retrievers and Bears are tied at two wins each, with Brown winning the two most recent meetings and the Retrievers winning the first two. The most recent meeting featured an 81-75 victory for Brown in Baltimore for the WBI Tournament on March 16, 2017. Shayna Mehta and Erika Steeves each had 22 for the Bears. Pandora Wilson and Taylor McCarley led UMBC with 19 and 18.
LAST TIME OUT
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UMBC is 2-1 on the season after shocking Virginia with a 61-56 victory on the road in Charlottesville on Thursday evening. The Retrievers held Virginia's Preseason Player of the Year Candidate and leading scorer, Kymora Johnson, to just one field goal on the night. UMBC knocked down nine threes in the win, with Gabby Scott making all four of her tries.
- Thursday's victory on the road at Virginia was a historic one for the Retrievers. UMBC never trailed, allowing Virginia to tie the contest once in the fourth before fighting off the Cavalier rally for a 61-56 victory.
- The win on Thursday was the first Power 4 (ACC, SEC, Big 10, Big 12) victory in UMBC program history, snapping a streak of 38 straight losses against such programs. UMBC was previously 0-4 all-time against Virginia and 0-15 against the ACC.
- The 64 percent UMBC shot from three in the win proved to be its best showing from distance since shooting 66.7 percent from deep at George Mason in December 2024.
- Candice Hill's program shocked the Cavaliers from the jump, building an 11-2 lead in the first four minutes of the contest. The lead grew to 14 midway through the second quarter as Yánez drilled a three to make it 33-19 Retrievers. UMBC took an eight-point lead into the break and led by 12 at the 7:40 mark of the third as Williams connected from deep, but UVA was able to trim the deficit to one with 37 ticks left on the third quarter clock. Kennedy Austin found Scott open for three with 11 seconds remaining in the third to put the Retrievers up by four entering the final quarter of play. Virginia tied the game at 54 with 3:13 to play, but the Cavaliers never took the lead as the Retrievers held on to win on the road. Tiara Bellamy went baseline, converting a reverse layup with 28 seconds left to put UMBC up by three. Virginia once again pulled within one, but Williams made four free throws in the final six seconds to ice the game.
SCOUTING THE BEARS
- The 0-2 Bears have been outscored by nearly 12 points per game (62.5-74.0) thanks to a 22-point loss to the Belmont Bruins to open the season. The Bears held a halftime lead in the opener against Belmont, but were outscored 48-24 in the second half of the losing effort. Moreland added 22 and 11 while Aima Ofunrein nearly had a double-double with eight points and 10 boards.
- Once again, Brown held a halftime lead over Holy Cross, 31-30, but a jumper with four seconds left pushed Holy Cross past the Bears. Charlotte Adams-Lopez and Monet Witherspoon each had 14 points for the Bears while Moreland grabbed 11 rebounds and added five assists.
- Monique LeBlanc is in her fifth season as the head coach of Brown and her 14th as a head coach after nine seasons at the helm of Merrimack. She is 45-63 at Brown and 174-184 all-time. The Bucknell graduate is the seventh head coach in the history of the Brown program. LeBlanc is Merrimack's all-time leader in wins, leading the program to a pair of 20-win seasons before her hiring at Brown.
SCOUTING THE DAWGS
- Jade Tillman and Heidi Williams are the program's leading scorers through three games. Tillman, a transfer from East Carolina, averages 15.0 points per game and five rebounds per contest. She scored 22 in the season-opening win over Stevenson and 17 at #10 Maryland. Williams averages 14.0 points per game and 4.3 rebounds off the bench. Williams was nails down the stretch against Virginia, hitting four free throws to clinch the victory. She has scored at least 12 points in each of her first three contests as a collegiate athlete.
- The most experienced Retriever, Carmen Yanez sits 22 assists away from 200 for her career. She is off to a strong start in 2025-26, handing out more than six assists per game. Along with needing 22 assists to reach 200. She needs 35 more assists to etch her name into the UMBC record book as an addition to the list of all-time assist leaders.
- The UMBC bench has provided a great boost to start the season, ranking 60th nationally in bench points at 31.3 per game.
- The Dawgs have owned the three-point line, ranking 29th nationally at 39.6 percent after a 9-14 showing at Virginia. On the flip side, the Retrievers hold their opponents to just 19.2 percent from beyond the arc, ranking #21 in Division I women's basketball.
- UMBC has been nearly automatic at the charity stripe to start the season, knocking down 77.4 percent of 62 free throw attempts to rank #48 in the country in free throw percentage.
- Individually, Carmen Yanez sits 24th in the country in assists per game at 6.3.
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
- UMBC will travel to Maryland Eastern Shore on Wednesday afternoon for a mid-day matchup with tip scheduled for 12 p.m. This will be the 18th meeting between the programs with UMBC holding onto a 9-8 edge in the matchup. UMES has won four straight, dating back to 2015.
