BALTIMORE - After stunning Vermont on Thursday, UMBC heads to UAlbany in search of a third straight victory. The Retrievers now sit 13-12 overall and 8-5 in the America East, surpassing last year's conference win total with three games left. After upsetting Binghamton on Saturday, UAlbany dropped a home contest to NJIT, falling 70-64 to move to 13-13 on the season and 3-10 in league play.
Saturday will feature the 48th all-time meeting between the Great Danes and the Retrievers. Dating back to 2004, UAlbany holds a 31-16 series advantage, but UMBC has won two of the past three meetings after losing six straight between 2022 and 2024. UMBC's best stretch of the series took place from 2007-2011 as they won seven-of-nine. Last month, UMBC held UAlbany scoreless for the final 8:22 of the game, including the full overtime period, to come away with a 55-46 victory. Heidi Williams recorded her first career Division I double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Jade Tillman just missed a double-double with 13 points and nine boards. Tiara Bellamy also scored a season-high 14 points in the win.
LAST TIME OUT
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With the game tied at 44-44, Jade Tillman took the inbound, drove to the right side, and canned a mid-range jumper with 5.6 seconds left to push UMBC past Vermont on Thursday night inside Patrick Gymnasium. The Retrievers improved to 13-12 on the season and 8-5 in the America East, while dropping Vermont to 22-7 and 11-3 on the campaign. Tillman led the charge for the Retrievers, finishing with 19 points and 10 rebounds to record her fifth double-double of the season. She knocked down three triples, nabbed three steals, and clinched the victory with the late jumper. Carmen Yánez hit two threes and finished with 8 points and four assists for UMBC. Reigning Freshman of the Week, Heidi Williams, contributed seven points and seven rebounds, while Alaina Williams pulled down nine rebounds for the Retrievers.
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UAlbany shot well from deep and battled back from a third-quarter deficit to take a late lead, but NJIT answered in the fourth to take a 70-64 win on Thursday night. Freshman Amaya Stewart led UAlbany with a career night, scoring 25 points on 11-14 shooting. Sophomore Martina Borrellas added eight points, a team-high 10 rebounds, and a game-high six assists.
SCOUTING THE GREAT DANES
- Joining a number of other America East programs ranking highly nationally in scoring defense, UAlbany enters Saturday's game eighth in the nation and third in the America East in scoring defense, allowing 55.2 points per game in 2025-26. UAlbany has held nine opponents this season to 50 or fewer points.
- The Great Danes have not had much turnover in the starting lineup with three players starting all 26 games, and Delanie Hill starting 25 of 26. Lara Langermann has started 21 games with Anais Levasseur (4) and Amaya Stewart (2) rounding out the remaining games started.
- Hill is the team's top option at 13.9 points per game. She also ranks second on the team with 63 assists. The sophomore averages exactly 13.9 points in America East play as well, adding a 22-point effort versus NJIT in January.
- The team's second-leading scorer, the freshman Stewart, has scored 23 and 25 in two of her last three games, ending a streak of three straight games in single figures versus UMass Lowell on February 7.
- Martina Borrellas has seen an uptick in league play, averaging 10.0 points and 6.5 rebounds in 13 games. Borrellas has grabbed 10 rebounds in two of the last three games, but has been held to 8 or fewer points in four straight.
- Led by Hill's mark of 39.3 percent, the Great Danes lead the America East and rank 32nd nationally in three-point percentage, making 35.3 percent of its tries from deep.
SCOUTING THE DAWGS
- On offense, UMBC is led by junior Jade Tillman, who averages 15.0 points per game. Tillman has scored in double figures in 18 straight contests and is averaging nearly 17 points per game in America East play. Tillman has scored 15 or more points in 11 of the 18 games, including 20-plus four times. In January, Tillman had a stretch of three straight games with a double-double before narrowly missing with 19 points and nine rebounds against UMass Lowell. Tillman is also the team's leading rebounder at 7.2 per game and leads the team in steals with 52.
- Tillman currently sits third all-time in single-season free throw percentage, knocking down 87.2 percent of her free throws. She currently sits 29th in Division I and leads the America East.
- Six-time America East Rookie of the Week, Heidi Williams continues to have a significant impact on the Retrievers' success. Averaging 9.9 points per game and 5.3 rebounds, Williams has upped those numbers to 11.0 points and 5.7 rebounds per game in America East play. Williams has scored in double figures 11 times this season and in six of 13 America East games.
- With 10 assists in her last two games, Carmen Yanez sits in 12th all-time in UMBC history with 258 career assists. Yanez recently passed Karyn Swann and Michelle Kurowski on the all-time list. Yanez has moved into 55th nationally in assist/turnover ratio this season with a 1.94 mark.
- UMBC ranks third in the America East and 25th nationally in three-point percentage defense. Opposing teams are knocking down just 26.9 percent of their tries from deep against UMBC. The Retrievers have held their opponent to three or fewer triples in 12 different games. Opponents have also shot 30 % or worse from deep in 14 different games this season.
- Currently holding opponents to 57.6 points per game, the Retrievers rank 33rd in Division I in scoring defense. With Thursday's effort, UMBC has held the opposition under 50 points nine times this season, including in back-to-back games.
- Continuing to pound the offensive glass, UMBC sits 41st in the country in offensive boards per game with 14.3. The Retrievers have 20 or more offensive boards in five games this season and 15 or more in 10 games this season.
ROOKIES RECORD WATCH
- On Monday, February 16, Heidi Williams became just the second Retriever in America East history to log six America East Rookie of the Week nods.
- Williams is the first player in over a decade to do so, joining Sara Tarbert, who accomplished the feat during the 2013-14 campaign.
- With multiple games to go, both Williams and Kennedy Austin have worked their way onto the UMBC freshman record lists. Williams has moved into eighth place on the UMBC list with 47 steals, just two shy of taking a solo hold on fourth place. She is also seven field goals and 28 points away from the freshman top 10.
- Kennedy Austin recently moved into a tie for 10th on the rookie list in free throws made with 67.
NOTHING BUT NET
- As of Friday, Feb. 20, UMBC ranks 193rd 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 recently defeated 87th-ranked Vermont, the program's first Quadrant 3 win of the season and second win over a top-100 opponent.
- UAlbany enters the game 187th in the NET, playing five games in Quad 1-3.
- UMBC in the Comprehensive WBB Rankings - NET - 193 | Massey - 259 | KPI - 183 | Her Hoops - 205
DAWGS IN THE TOP 10
UMBC has a number of players in the top 10 in the America East in various stat categories
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
