BALTIMORE - UMBC heads to Massachusetts to take on UMass Lowell in search of the program's first five-game America East winning streak since the 2016-17 season. The Retrievers roared back to defeat NJIT 52-51 on Thursday night, improving to 9-9 on the season and 4-2 in league play. The River Hawks fell to 6-13 and 0-6 in the conference with a loss at Vermont.
Saturday will be the 24th all-time meeting between UMBC and UMass Lowell with the River Hawks holding a 12-11 edge. The Retrievers have won the last two meetings after UMass Lowell won three straight in 2023 and 2024. The all-time series began in January, 2014. The last meeting between these teams was back on February 20, 2025, a two-point victory for the Retrievers (53-51). UMBC entered the fourth quarter ahead by nine and held on for a two-point victory, despite UMass Lowell racing back to tie the game with 6:57 to play.
LAST TIME OUT
- UMBC trailed for the majority of Thursday's contest, entering the fourth quarter behind by 11, but the Retrievers scratched and clawed back, outscoring NJIT 21-9 in the fourth to earn a fourth straight America East victory. UMBC snapped a four-game losing skid to the Highlanders with Thursday's victory. Trailing by one with less than 10 seconds remaining, Jade Tillman received the ball in the high post, split two defenders, and hit the game-winning bucket to propel UMBC to a come-from-behind, 52-51, victory at NJIT on Thursday evening.
- The River Hawks couldn't overcome 31 points from Vermont's Nikola Priede on Thursday in an 82-46 loss. Jaini Edmonds finished with 16 points and five rebounds for UMass Lowell.
SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS
- The River Hawks went 6-7 in non-conference play, defeating Saint Anselm, CCSU, Maine Fort Kent, New Haven, LIU, and St. Joseph's Brooklyn before starting 0-6 in conference play.
- UMass Lowell is outscored by 6.8 points per game, averaging 58.9 per game on the offensive end. The River Hawks have knocked down 136 triples in 2025-26.
- Jaini Edmonds is the lone player to start all 19 games for UMass Lowell and serves as the team's top offensive option, averaging 12.9 points per game. Edmonds has reached double figures in 14 games this season and has scored 20 or more points three times. Her season high is 26 against LIU in a game where she grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out five assists.
- The team's third-leading scorer, Sabrina Larsson, is a three-point marksman, knocking down nearly 42 percent of her shot attempts from distance. She ranks 27th in the country and second in the America East in three-point percentage. The Swedish native has made a three in every game this season, including a 6-10 effort from distance against New Haven.
- As a team, UMass Lowell ranks 61st in the nation and leads the America East in three-point attempts per game with 23.6.
- A first-year Division I head coach, Jon Plefka leads the River Hawks after successful runs at AUM and Post. Plefka was 104-66 as a head coach before taking over as the UMass Lowell head coach this season. Plefka served as an assistant coach at Stony Brook in 2024-25 before accepting the role with the River Hawks. Plefka is a 2007 graduate of Texas Tech.
SCOUTING THE DAWGS
- UMBC comes in at 9-9 overall with victories over Stevenson, Virginia, Presbyterian, Morgan State, Notre Dame (Md.), New Hampshire, Bryant, Binghamton, and NJIT. The Retrievers dropped contests to Maryland, Brown, UMES, Towson, FIU, Loyola, American, NJIT, and Maine.
- Tillman, the team's leading scorer at 15.1 per game, is in the midst of a red-hot stretch, scoring 12 or more points in 11 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. With 17 points and 10 rebounds on Thursday, Tillman became the first Retriever since Pandora Wilson in 2016 to record three consecutive double-doubles. Tillman is one of six players in the America East averaging 15 or more points per game this season and also leads the conference in steals per game.
- 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.
- Returning from illness last Saturday to see her first game action since December 21, Gabby Scott played her first real minutes on Thursday, contributing in a big way. Scott finished with nine points, five rebounds, and a steal, hitting two threes in the fourth quarter, including the triple to tie the game at 50-50 with less than a minute remaining.
- Recently, Carmen Yanez, the most experienced Retriever, moved into 15th all-time on the program's list in career assists. She has 231 career assists, leaving her 3 shy of Te'yJah Oliver for 14th in program history.
- Now up to 17th nationally, the Retrievers have defended the three-point line magnificently, allowing opponents to shoot just 25.8 percent from deep. UMBC has held the opposing team to three or fewer triples in 11 games this season.
- With 26 offensive boards on Thursday, UMBC moves up to 39th in the country, pulling down 14.7 offensive rebounds per contest. The Retrievers have 20 or more offensive boards in seven games this season.
- The Retrievers sit 55th in the country in turnovers forced per game, taking a slight bump up to 19.94 after forcing 21 of them on Thursday. That makes eight games this season where UMBC has forced 20 or more turnovers.
- Candice Hill is in year two with UMBC and holds an overall record of 23-24 after a 14-15 record in her inaugural season at the helm. The Loyola (Md.) product is the 11th head coach in the history of the program and has previous experience as an assistant at St. John's, Loyola (Md.), UMass, and Wilmington University.
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 Friday, Jan. 23, UMBC ranks 212th 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.
- UMBC in the Comprehensive WBB Rankings - NET - 212 | Massey - 267 | KPI - 201 | Her Hoops - 218
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
