BALTIMORE - Riding a two-game conference win streak, UMBC plays host to the lone remaining unbeaten in America East play, Binghamton, on Saturday afternoon. The Retrievers enter the contest 7-9, and 2-2 in America East play, while the Bearcats come to Baltimore 12-5 overall and 4-0 in conference play.
Saturday will be the 48th all-time meeting between UMBC and Binghamton with the Bearcats holding a 32-15 advantage in the series. Binghamton has won three straight and seven of the last nine meetings. The team's last met on February 13, 2025 in New York. Binghamton won the matchup 58-48 despite 20 points from
Jordon Lewis for UMBC. Bella Pucci led the Bearcats with 17 points and seven rebounds.
Tiara Bellamy scored six points for the Retrievers in the loss.
LAST TIME OUT
- UMBC scratched and clawed to a 55-47 home victory over Bryant on Thursday afternoon, handing the Bulldogs their first loss of the conference season. Jade Tillman recorded her first career double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds, scoring 10 points in the fourth quarter to help seal the deal. Alaina Williams contributed 12 points for the Retrievers who held Bryant to 10 or fewer points in each of the first three quarters.
- Bryant shot just 31 percent from the floor over the first 30 minutes before finishing the contest at 36 percent. UMBC is now 7-0 all-time against the Bulldogs.
- Binghamton held on for a 63-61 victory over UAlbany on Thursday afternoon to remain unbeaten in America East play this season. The Bearcats trailed 61-58 with 2:44 remaining, but Kaia Goode sank two free throws with 29 seconds left to give Binghamton a one-point lead. Meghan Casey added a free throw with 10 seconds left to secure a two-point victory.
- Kendall Bennett had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Bearcats with Carletta Bennett adding 13 points off the bench. Bella Pucci had 12 and Meghan Casey had 10 for Binghamton, who shot 44 percent from the field in the win. Despite 18 points from Delanie Hill, UAlbany shot just 39 percent in the loss.
SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
- Binghamton is a perfect 4-0 in America East play, holding victories over NJIT, Vermont, UMass Lowell, and UAlbany. The Bearcats went 8-5 in non-conference play with a challenging schedule highlighted by a trip to #6 Michigan in November.
- Binghamton comes into the contest averaging 70.1 points per game while allowing 64.2 points. The Bearcats shoot 43.3 percent from the floor, but are outrebounded by 3.1 boards per game.
- Four Bearcats have started every game this season: Kendall Bennett, Bella Pucci, Leah Middleton, and Kaia Goode. Bennett is the team's leading scorer at 14.5 points per game. She is joined in double figures by Pucci at 13.9 per contest.
- Bennett is also the team's leading rebounder at 8.8 per game. Bennett has seven double-doubles this season, including a 19-point, 14-rebound effort against Akron on November 20.
- Pucci started the season scoring in double figures in eight straight games, including a 29-point outing against Akron. Pucci is averaging 15.5 points per game in the four conference games this season.
- The Bearcats have been nails at the free-throw line, ranking atop the conference and 28th nationally, knocking down 77.3 percent of their free throws.
- Bennett ranks sixth in all of Division I basketball in field goal percentage, making 63.6 percent of her shots this season.
- Pucci ranks 26th in the country in free-throw percentage at 88.3 percent.
SCOUTING THE DAWGS
- UMBC comes in at 7-9 overall with victories over Stevenson, Virginia, Presbyterian, Morgan State, Notre Dame (Md.), New Hampshire, and Bryant. The Retrievers dropped contests to Maryland, Brown, UMES, Towson, FIU, Loyola, American, NJIT, and Maine.
- Tillman, the team's leading scorer at 14.6 per game, is in the midst of a red-hot stretch, scoring 12 or more points in nine straight contests. She holds the longest such streak of double-digit scoring since Ashia McCall scored in double figures in 12 straight games in 2023. Tillman has knocked down a team-best 20 three-pointers this season and has hit multiple threes in four of her last five games. Tillman ranks 39th in the country in free-throw percentage, making 87 percent of her tries from the stripe.
- Heidi Williams has seen an uptick in performance over the past two weeks, earning a pair of America East Rookie of the Week honors and scoring 15 or more points in three of the last five games. Williams is averaging 10.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game in conference play. She recorded her first career double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds vs. Notre Dame (Md.) on Dec. 30.
- Recently, Carmen Yanez, the most experienced Retriever, moved into 15th all-time on the program's list in career assists. She has 224 career assists, leaving her 10 shy of Te'ylah Oliver for 14th in program history.
- UMBC ranks 55th in the country in offensive rebounds per game with 14.3 per contest. The Retrievers top the America East in the stat and have four players (Alaina Williams, Austin, Tillman, and Delaney Yarborough) with 25 or more offensive boards.
- The Retrievers rank 49th in Division I with 25.9 bench points per contest. The UMBC bench has scored 40 or more points three times and have scored at least 16 points in every game this season.
- UMBC ranks 43rd in the country in free throws made per game, making 14.69 free throws per game.
ROOKIES RUNNING WILD
- After a five-year stretch without an America East Rookie of the Week, UMBC has had two players combine for five honors this season.
- Heidi Williams was the first Retriever in five seasons to earn the honor on November 17 before garnering two more recognitions on Dec. 31 and Jan. 12. Williams is the fifth player in program history to receive three or more America East Rookie of the Week honors and first since Sara Tarbert in 2014.
- Kennedy Austin secured back-to-back America East Rookie of the Week nods on December 1 and December 8 becoming the first Retriever since 2017 to win the award in back-to-back weeks and the eighth all-time to do so.
NOTHING BUT NET
HISTORY MADE
- UMBC'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
