BALTIMORE - Riding a five-game America East winning streak for the first time since 2016-17, UMBC welcomes Vermont, a program atop the current America East standings, on Thursday night.
Despite the UMBC campus closure, the contest remains as scheduled.
Saturday will be the 50th all-time meeting between UMBC and Vermont, with the Catamounts winning eight straight, dating back to January 1, 2023. Vermont won all three meetings last season, including a 70-39 victory over the Retrievers on March 6 in the America East Tournament.
Talia Davis had 10 points and eight rebounds for the Retrievers who were stymied offensively. Nikola Priede led a group of three Catamounts with 17 or more points, scoring 19.
LAST TIME OUT
- UMBC never trailed on Saturday afternoon, going wire-to-wire for its fifth straight America East victory, defeating UMass Lowell 75-52. The Retrievers shot a Division I season-best 51.8 percent from the field in the victory, jumping out to an early lead thanks to an efficient first quarter, during which they knocked down nine of 13 shots. Heidi Williams scored a career-high 22 points and added seven rebounds and four steals in another dominant performance.
- Vermont (17-5, 6-1 AE) defeated Bryant (14-6, 4-3 AE) on Saturday afternoon at Patrick Gymnasium, during the National Girls & Women In Sports Day game presented by Vermont Mutual Insurance Group. The win marked the Catamounts' seventh straight home victory over Bryant, a streak dating back to 2019. Jadyn Weltz scored a season-high 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 shooting from three. She added eight rebounds and two assists.
SCOUTING THE CATAMOUNTS
- Vermont enters Thursday night's contest at 17-5 and 6-1 in America East play. The Catamounts have won four straight since dropping their lone conference game at Binghamton on Jan. 8. Vermont is 11-2 since a four-point loss to Lindenwood on November 30.
- Three players average at least 11.9 points per game for Vermont this season, led by 17.0 from center Nikola Priede. Keira Hanson (14.4) and 1,000-point scorer Jadyn Weltz (11.9) join Priede.
- Priede has scored in double figures in all but two games this season, scoring 20 or more six times, including a pair of 30-plus-point efforts versus New Hampshire (34) and UMass Lowell (31). Priede also averages 7.7 rebounds per game.
- Hanson, a markswoman from deep, has hit 45 threes at a 45.5 percent clip this season. She has made multiple threes in 16 games this season, topping out at 20 points on two separate occasions. Hanson ranks 11th in the country and tops the America East in three-point percentage.
- Weltz, the veteran of the bunch, had her first 20-point game of the season on Saturday, but has scored 10 or more on 15 other occasions.
- Ranking atop the America East in 10 separate statistical categories, the Catamounts rank in the top-20 nationally in five different statistics. Vermont is the top team in the country at protecting the basketball, turning it over just 10.5 times per game. Minnesota, McNeese, and Quinnipiac are the only other teams in the country turning it over less than 11 times per game.
- Vermont ranks eighth in scoring defense (54.2), 12th in fouls per game (12.8), 15th in three-point percentage defense (26.1), and 17th in field goal percentage (47.1).
- Alisa Kresge, the two-time America East Champion, is in her eighth season at the head of the program. She has won 137 games at Vermont and was named the 2022-23 America East Coach of the Year.
SCOUTING THE DAWGS
- UMBC comes in at 10-9 overall with victories over Stevenson, Virginia, Presbyterian, Morgan State, Notre Dame (Md.), New Hampshire, Bryant, Binghamton, NJIT, and UMass Lowell. The Retrievers dropped contests to Maryland, Brown, UMES, Towson, FIU, Loyola, American, NJIT, and Maine.
- Tillman, the team's leading scorer at 15.3 per game, is in the midst of a red-hot stretch, scoring 12 or more points in 12 straight contests, tying Ashia McCalla for the longest such streak of double-digit scoring since 2023. The America East leader in steals has been dominant in league play, averaging 19.0 points and 7.9 rebounds per game.
- Also playing her best ball in conference play, Heidi Williams scored a career-high 22 points on Saturday at UMass Lowell. Williams is averaging 12.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game in league play and has won America East Rookie of the Week five times.
- On Saturday, Carmen Yanez, the most experienced Retriever, moved into 14th all-time on the program's list in career assists. She surpassed Te'yJah Oliver for 14th in program history, now sitting with 237 assists.
- UMBC ranks atop the America East and seventh nationally in three-point percentage defense. Opposing teams are knocking down just 24.6 percent of their tries from deep against UMBC.
- Continuing to pound the offensive glass, UMBC sits 37th in the country in offensive boards per game with 14.6. The Retrievers have 20 or more offensive boards in five games this season.
- UMBC ranks in the 50's in multiple statistical categories nationally: free throws made per game (14.42, 51st), free throw attempts per game (20.0, 52nd), scorind defense (58.4, 55th), and bench points per game (24.0, 58th).
- Candice Hill is in year two with UMBC and holds an overall record of 24-24 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 second player in UMBC history and first since 2014 to receive five or more America East Rookie of the Week honors. Williams joins Sara Tarbert (2013-14) as the only two Retrievers with five or more Rookie of the Week honors.
- Williams has received the award in three straight weeks, giving UMBC seven Rookie of the Week honors this season.
NOTHING BUT NET
- As of Wednesday, Jan. 28, UMBC ranks 203rd 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.
- Vermont enters Thursday's contest 86th in the NET.
- UMBC in the Comprehensive WBB Rankings - NET - 212 | Massey - 268 | KPI - 211 | Her Hoops - 214
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
