BALTIMORE - UMBC women's basketball hosts Notre Dame (Md.) on Tuesday night in the final contest of the 2025 calendar year for UMBC Athletics. Tip is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. inside Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena.
Tuesday's meeting is the 17th all-time meeting between UMBC and Notre Dame (Md.) dating back to 1969. The Retrievers lead the all-time series 12-4 and have won the last seven matchups. Notre Dame (Md.)'s last victory over the Retrievers came in 1981. In last year's meeting, UMBC won 79-24 on November 6, 2024, holding the Gators to 10 or less points in all four quarters.
Alaina Williams had 15 points and nine rebounds for UMBC while
Carmen Yánez added five points, seven assists, and four rebounds.
LAST TIME OUT
- UMBC's fourth-quarter comeback effort fell short at American on December 21 as the Retrievers trimmed the gap from 15 to three over the final 6:43. The Eagles hung on for a 65-61 victory inside Bender Arena.
- Jade Tillman scored 13 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and came away with four steals to lead UMBC. Tillman was the only Retriever in double figures followed by Kennedy Austin (8), Heidi Williams (7), and Maisie Crowley (7).
- American was led by Charlotte Tuhy and Madisyn Moore-Nicholson, who each scored 20 points.
- Notre Dame of Maryland last played on December 13, defeating Baruch 70-54 in New York. Amani Watts contributed a double-double off the bench (21 points, 13 rebounds), while Marecia Barnett added 16 points and five boards. The Gators made 48.1 percent of their shots in the win.
SCOUTING THE GATORS
- Notre Dame (Md.), a Division III program located in Baltimore, are 3-5 thus far in the 2025-26 season. The Gators have victories over Eastern Mennonite, Valley Forge, and Baruch in 2025 with losses to Alvernia, Randolph-Macon, Washington College, McDaniel, and FDU-Florham.
- The Eagles are averaging 54.1 points per game and allowing 56.0 per contest this season. The Gators are out-rebounding opponents by 3.3 boards and winning the turnover margin by 1.1.
- Watts is the team's leading scorer at 11.3 points per game. She is also the team's most efficient scorer, making 48.3 percent of her shots. Watts has reached double digits five times this season with the 21 against Baruch serving as her season high.
- Barnett averages 8.1 points per contest after a 16-point effort against Baruch. She has reached double figures four times this season. Barnett is the team's leader in steals with 18.
- Notre Dame (Md.) ranks 68th at the Division III level in bench points per game with 24.8.
SCOUTING THE DAWGS
- Fresh off the loss to American, UMBC enters Tuesday's contest at 4-7 overall.
- Austin and Tillman continue to propel UMBC offensively, with Austin leading the team at 12.5 points per game and 3.4 rebounds per contest. Tillman isn't far behind, averaging 12.2 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. Tillman is also the team leader in steals with 25.
- UMBC holds victories over Stevenson, Virginia, Presbyterian, and Morgan State. The Retrievers dropped contests to Maryland, Brown, UMES, Towson, FIU, Loyola, and American.
- The UMBC bench has provided a great boost to start the season, ranking 56th nationally in bench points at 26.3 per game. The Retrievers have scored more than 40 points off the bench twice; 42 vs. Stevenson, and 41 at Brown. UMBC has scored at least 16 bench points in every game this season.
- UMBC ranks 44th in the nation in free throws made per game at 14.9, getting to the line at will and leading the America East in the category.
- Working hard on the offensive glass, the Dawgs rank 58th in Division I with 14.4 offensive boards per game. UMBC pulled down a season-high 27 of its own misses in the win over Morgan State.
- Speaking of getting to the free-throw line at will, Austin ranks 38th in Division I in free throws made with 54.
- The most experienced Retriever, Carmen Yanez became the 16th player in UMBC history to hand out 200 assists for her career. She is off to a strong start in 2025-26, handing out four assists per game. Yanez is nine assists away from etching her name into the UMBC record books for career assists.
BACK-2-BACK
- Austin was named America East Rookie of the Week for the second consecutive week, making her the first Retriever since 2017 to secure the honor in back-to-back weeks. Austin is the eighth player in program history to earn AE Rookie of the Week honors in consecutive weeks.
- Austin needed just one game to get the job done this week, putting forth a stellar effort in a 66-48 win for the Retrievers at Morgan State on Saturday afternoon. In the starting lineup for the fourth straight game, Austin scored 19 points, grabbed six rebounds, added a steal, and handed out an assist in 25 minutes of action. The Waldorf, Md. native shot 6-13 from the floor, knocked down all seven of her free throws, and pulled down five offensive rebounds in the win. The freshman scored 14 of her 19 points in the first half as UMBC entered halftime with a six-point advantage.
- After going five years without an America East Rookie of the Week, UMBC has had two players earn the honor a total of three times thus far in 2025.
- Heidi Williams became UMBC's first America East Weekly Award winner for the 2025-26 season after an impressive week for the Dawgs. Williams averaged 10.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game. Williams is the first Retriever to be named Rookie of the Week since Lyric Swann in January, 2020. In Thursday's historic victory over Virginia, Williams scored 14 points and grabbed five rebounds in 20 minutes. She also hit four free throws in the final six seconds of the game to ice away the victory for UMBC. Williams made seven of eight free throws in the game. She added six points, six rebounds, and three blocks on Sunday afternoon in a 56-54 loss to Brown.
NOTHING BUT NET
- As of Monday, Dec. 29, UMBC ranks 227th in the NCAA's NET rankings. In the NET era, UMBC had never reached higher than 269 in the rankings prior to the 2025-26 season.
- UMBC has reached as high as 187th in the NET rankings so far this season, the program's highest-ever.
- UMBC is 1-1 in Quadrant 1 with a win over Virginia and a loss to Maryland. The Retrievers have yet to play a Quad 2 or 3 games.
HISTORY MADE
- Last 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.
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
