BALTIMORE - UMBC travels to Maine and New Hampshire after an 80-75 loss to open America East play against NJIT on New Year's Day inside the 'Peake. UMBC enters Thursday's contest at 5-8 (0-1) while the Black Bears sit at 6-9 (1-1).
Thursday will be the 44th all-time meeting between UMBC and Maine, dating back to 2004. The Black Bears lead the all-time series 27-16, but UMBC has won three of the last five meetings, including the final meeting between the teams last season on February 8. In UMBC's 71-53 win over Maine in CEI,
Jordon Lewis (17),
Tiara Bellamy (14),
Talia Davis (11), and
Jaden Walker (10) all reached double figures. Maine has won five straight contests against UMBC at home and 11 of the last 12 inside Memorial Gymnasium.
LAST TIME OUT
- UMBC opened up America East play on January 1 at home against NJIT, falling 80-75. The Retrievers built a 10-point lead in the first half, but a historic 39-point effort from the Highlanders' Alejandra Zuniga pushed NJIT to victory.
- Jade Tillman set a career-high with 25 points in the loss, while adding six rebounds and three steals to the cause. Kennedy Austin nearly recorded her first career double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds and Tiara Bellamy re-entered the starting lineup and scored 10 points for UMBC.
- Maine opened conference play with a 73-65 victory over UMass Lowell, getting 37 points and six rebounds from Adrianna Smith before falling 82-73 to Bryant on Saturday. Smith had another big game on Saturday, scoring 27 points and pulling in five boards.
SCOUTING THE BLACK BEARS
- The Black Bears come into the contest at 6-9 on the season, holding wins over Stonehill, Saint Francis, Boston, Quinnipiac, Harvard, and UMass Lowell.
- Maine is averaging 59.4 points per contest and allowing 63.2, giving them a scoring margin of -3.8.
- Adrianna Smith, a two-time First Team All-America East selection and the 2022-23 America East Player of the Year is the leader for the Black Bears. Smith missed last season with injury, but has come back in a big way, averaging 20.2 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game. Smith has six double-doubles and a triple-double in 2025-26, logging a 19-point, 13-rebound, 10-assist triple-double against Saint Francis on November 29. Smith has scored 20 or more points eight times and pulled down 20 rebounds to go with 18 points against Quinnipiac on December 14.
- Alongside Smith, Asta Blauenfeldt and Sarah Talon have started all 15 games for Maine. Blauenfeldt is the team's second leading scorer at 11.8 per game, leading the team with 26 steals. She has scored 13 or more points in five straight contests after being held scoreless in back-to-back games on December 4th and 7th. Talon averages 6.6 points and 5.1 rebounds per game after scoring 15 points against Bryant. She has four games this season with 10 or more points and seven with six or more rebounds.
- Maine holds onto the ball, ranking 39th in the country in turnovers per game, giving it away just 13.5 times per contest. The Black Bears are also foul-averse, ranking 43rd with 14.4 fouls per contest.
- Individually, Smith ranks in the top-20 nationally in field goal attempts (6th), double-doubles (10th), field goals (13th), minutes per game (13th), points (16th), points per game (19th).
- Now in her 10th season at Maine, Amy Vachon holds a record of 169-94 with the Black Bears, reaching the NCAA Tournament three times and winning America East Coach of the Year five times. Vachon took the program to the top of the America East in 2018, 2019, and 2024. An alum and UMaine Sports Hall of Famer, Vachon holds the Maine and America East career records for assists with 759. Prior to joining the Maine staff in 2011, she coached Catherine McAuley High School to the Maine Class A State Championship.
SCOUTING THE DAWGS
- UMBC holds victories over Stevenson, Virginia, Presbyterian, Morgan State, and Notre Dame (Md.). The Retrievers dropped contests to Maryland, Brown, UMES, Towson, FIU, Loyola, and American.UMBC set its Division I-era points record, scoring 104 in the 82-point victory over Notre Dame of Maryland last Tuesday night. The Retrievers also set a program record for defensive field goal percentage, allowing the Gators to shoot just 7-49 (14.3%) from the floor.
- Tillman, the team's leading scorer at 14.0 per game, has really come on over the last month-plus, averaging 17.8 points per game over her last six contests dating back to November 30. In the five games prior to November 30, Tillman scored 11 or fewer points in each, but has responded with 12 or more points in each of the last six, scoring career-highs of 23 and 25 in back-to-back contests. Tillman is also the team leader in rebounds (5.9 per game) and steals (2.3 per game). Tillman has knocked down 87.3 percent of her free throws, ranking her 41st nationally. She has made 25 of her last 26 tries from the charity stripe.
- Austin has put together an outstanding freshman campaign, averaging 12.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game. She also ranks second on the team with 24 assists. Austin has scored in double figures seven times this season, topping out at 24 points at FIU on November 28. Her 12.0 points per game would currently rank eighth in UMBC history as a freshman and would make her one of just three Retrievers to average 12 or more points as a freshman since 2000.
- Recently, Carmen Yanez, the most experienced Retriever, moved into 15th all-time on the program's list in career assists. She has 219 career assists, leaving her 15 shy of Te'ylah Oliver for 14th in program history.
- UMBC ranks 36th in the country in offensive rebounds per game with 15.2 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 40th in Division I with 27 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.
- Topping the America East in turnovers forced per game at 20.54, UMBC also lands inside the top-50 nationally in the stat.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK x4
- Williams earned her second America East Rookie of the Week honor on Wednesday, after a double-double against Notre Dame of Maryland on Tuesday night. Williams finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds, and five steals in the victory. Both Williams and Austin have earned America East Rookie of the Week honors twice this season.
- 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 Thursday, Jan. 1, UMBC ranks 240th 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.
- Maine currently ranks 180th in the NET, reaching as high as 172nd on December 28th. The Black Bears lost both Quad 1 game, but hold a Quad 2 victory with a two-point road win at Harvard on Dec. 21.
- UMBC in the Comprehensive WBB Rankings
NET - 240 | Massey - 302
KPI - 292 | Her Hoops - 249
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
