BALTIMORE - Winners of three straight, UMBC heads to New Jersey on Thursday evening for an America East rematch with NJIT. Now 8-9 on the season and 3-2 in league play after wins over previously unbeaten conference foes, Binghamton and Bryant, the Retrievers will look to continue their successful run. NJIT enters the contest 13-6 and 4-2 in the America East.
Saturday will be the 12th all-time meeting between UMBC and NJIT with the Highlanders taking a 6-5 edge with the win back on January 1. NJIT has won four straight in the series after UMBC won five of the first seven. The matchup earlier this month featured a roaring comeback from the Highlanders and a career performance from Zuniga. NJIT trailed by seven entering the final 10 minutes, but outscored UMBC 27-15 in the fourth quarter to secure the victory in the America East opener. Zuniga scored 39 points on 13-16 shooting to lead the way. Tillman scored a career-high 25 points in the effort for the Retrievers.
LAST TIME OUT
- The Retrievers used a monster second quarter to jump out to a nine-point halftime lead on Saturday. Binghamton punched back in the fourth quarter to pull within one, but UMBC closed out a six-point win. Jade Tillman had a double-double (21 pts, 11 reb), Heidi Williams gave UMBC 17 points off the bench, and Alaina Williams added 10 points and eight rebounds for the Retrievers. UMBC shot 43.8 percent to Binghamton's 40.0, improving to 6-0 this season when outshooting its opponent.
- The Highlanders defeated Bryant 78-65 on Saturday behind a combined 50 points from Alejandra Zuniga (27) and Olivia Kulyk (23). The Highlanders held Bryant to just 30.7 percent from the field, holding the Bulldogs under 30 percent in three of four quarters.
SCOUTING THE HIGHLANDERS
- NJIT holds conference victories over Bryant, UMass Lowell, New Hampshire, and UMBC with losses to Binghamton and Maine.
- Third in the league in scoring at 18.3 per game, Alejandra Zuniga became the NJIT all-time leading scorer on Saturday with a 27-point performance. Zuniga surpassed Jessica Gerald (2007-11) for the top scoring mark, sitting at 1,505 points. Zuniga has scored 20 or more points four times this season and has ramped it up to 22.5 points per game in league play.
- Olivia Kulyk is second on the team in scoring at 16.1 per game, knocking down 46 threes this season to top the America East. Kulyk has scored 20 or more points seven times this season.
- The team's leading rebounder, Ava Locklear, pulls down 8.3 rebounds per game. Locklear has seven games this season with 10 or more rebounds, including a 20-point, 16-rebound effort vs. Lafayette. Locklear's six double-doubles rank 49th in the country.
- NJIT ranks 43rd in the country in field goal percentage, knocking down 45.4 percent of its shots.
- Now in year eight with NJIT, Mike Lane has already led the Highlanders to their third season of 13 or more wins in the last five years. He is 78-137 all-time with NJIT, but 64-74 in the last five years. A 1993 graduate of Notre Dame, Lane started his coaching career at UChicago before becoming the head coach at Dominican and an assistant at Bucknell.
SCOUTING THE DAWGS
- UMBC comes in at 8-9 overall with victories over Stevenson, Virginia, Presbyterian, Morgan State, Notre Dame (Md.), New Hampshire, Bryant, and Binghamton. The Retrievers dropped contests to Maryland, Brown, UMES, Towson, FIU, Loyola, American, NJIT, and Maine.
- Tillman, the team's leading scorer at 14.9 per game, is in the midst of a red-hot stretch, scoring 12 or more points in 10 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 21 three-pointers this season and has hit multiple threes in four of her last six games. With 21 points and 11 rebounds on Saturday, Tillman became the first Retriever since Kiara Bell in 2023 to record double-doubles in back-to-back games.
- Tillman was named America East Player of the Week, the third Retriever to receive the honor under Candice Hill, joining Jaden Walker and Jordon Lewis.
- After scoring in double figures in back-to-back games, Alaina Williams is averaging 7.6 points and 4.2 rebounds in America East play. She is shooting 58.3 percent from the field and 90.9 percent from the line in those five games. She finished with 12 points and 3 rebounds vs. Bryant and 10 points and eight rebounds vs. Binghamton.
- Earlier this season, Carmen Yanez, the most experienced Retriever, moved into 15th all-time on the program's list in career assists. She has 225 career assists, leaving her 9 shy of Te'ylah Oliver for 14th in program history.
- Now up to 25th nationally, the Retrievers have defended the three-point line magnificently, allowing opponents to shoot just 26.4 percent from deep. UMBC has held the opposing team to three or fewer triples in 10 games this season.
- UMBC continues to get to the foul line, ranking first in the America East and 37th in Division I with 14.94 free throws made per game.
- The Retrievers remain inside the top-50 nationally in bench scoring, getting 25.1 points per game off the bench this season. On Saturday, Williams scored a career-high 17 in a reserve role.
ROOKIES RUNNING WILD
- On Monday, Heidi Williams became the fourth player in UMBC history and first since 2014 to receive four or more America East Rookie of the Week honors. Williams joins Sara Tarbert (2013-14), Lauren Chase (2011-12), and Michelle Kurowski (2008-09) as the Retrievers to accomplish the feat.
- Williams has received the award in back-to-back weeks, matching a feat accomplished by teammate Kennedy Austin earlier this season. Williams scored 17 points, grabbed six rebounds, and nabbed three steals in Saturday's win over Binghamton to help secure the award.
- Williams' fourth honor makes it six Rookie of the Week awards for UMBC this season after previously going five years without an honor.
NOTHING BUT NET
- As of Tuesday, Jan. 20, UMBC ranks 218th 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. The Retrievers reached 187th earlier this season, the program's highest-ever ranking.
- UMBC is 1-1 in Quadrant 1 with a win over Virginia and a loss to Maryland.
- NJIT currently ranks 190th in the NET rankings and 150th in the KPI.
- UMBC in the Comprehensive WBB Rankings : NET - 240 | Massey - 275 | KPI - 227 | Her Hoops - 227
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
