BALTIMORE - UMBC women's basketball travels to College Park on Thursday night to take on #10 Maryland at 6 p.m. inside the XFINITY Center. 

Monday night marks the 15th all-time meeting between UMBC and Maryland. The Terrapins are 14-0 all-time against the Retrievers. Maryland defeated UMBC 74-32 in the season-opener a year ago in the most recent meeting between the programs.
 

• UMBC enters Thursday's contest at #10 Maryland with a 1-0 record after opening the season with a 90-45 victory over Stevenson on Monday night. The Retrievers were victorious in the season-opener for the first time since a 79-77 win over Gettysburg in 2022.
• Jade Tillman scored 19 first-half points, finishing with 22 for the game. Her total was 14 points more than her previous career-high of eight at East Carolina. She was joined in double figures by Heidi Williams (16), Alaina Williams (13), and Tiara Bellamy (11).
• The UMBC defense made life miserable for the Mustangs, forcing 36 turnovers in the victory. All but one of Stevenson's players had at least one turnover including seven from lead guard Janiya Ennis. UMBC finished with 19 steals, with six players recording multiple.
• Veterans Delaney Yarborough (nine points, 11 rebounds) and Carmen Yánez (10 assists) provided strong contributions, as well as freshman Kennedy Austin (nine points, four steals). Yánez became the first Retriever since 2017 to reach double-digit assists in a contest.
• The Terrapins are coming off an 80-26 win over Loyola (Md.) in their season opener Monday night in College Park. Oluchi Okanawa led the Terps with 18 points and Saylor Poffenbarger added 11 with 5 rebounds. Over the last seven seasons, the Terps are 110-7 (94.0%) when they score 80 points or more.  

• Maryland's #10 ranking is the highest to open the season for the program since a preseason ranking of #4 to start the 2021-22 season. The Terrapins have been ranked in the preseason poll for 16 consecutive seasons. UMD was picked second in the preseason Big Ten poll behind UCLA.
• Yarden Garzon and Kaylene Smikle were named to the All-Big Ten Preseason Team for the Terrapins. Garzon was a two-time All-Big Ten selection at Indiana before transferring to College Park. Smikle, a 1,000-point scorer for the Terps, was an All-Big Ten First Team (Media) selection last season.
• Maryland posted a 25-8 record in 2024-25, winning 13 Big Ten games and reaching the NCAA Tournament. The Terrapins took down Norfolk State and #21 Alabama before giving #2 South Carolina all it could handle before falling 71-67.

FRESHMEN FOCUS

• First-Year players Heidi Williams, Kennedy Austin, and Maisie Crowley all made their collegiate debuts against Stevenson on Monday. Williams had 16 points (7-11), four rebounds, two blocks, and two steals in 18 minutes, Austin chipped in nine points and four steals in 15 minutes, and Crowley scored two points and grabbed a rebound in nine minutes for the Retrievers.

• 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. 
  • Incoming Transfers -> Dagny Slomack (Soph. | Central Connecticut State), Delaney Yarborough (Sr. | North Carolina A&T), Gabby Scott (Jr. | Towson), Jade Tillman (Jr. | East Carolina)
  • Freshmen -> Heidi Williams (Saint Frances Academy), Kennedy Austin (Maret), Sadaya Jones (Morgantown), Maisie Crowley (Bishop McNamara)
• 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. 

• 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.