BALTIMORE - UMBC will travel to Bryant for a Thursday afternoon contest with the Bulldogs, featuring major implications in the America East race. After a double overtime loss at UAlbany on Saturday, UMBC comes into the contest 13-13 with an 8-6 record in league play. Bryant is also 8-6 in league play with an overall record of 18-9.
Thursday will be just the eighth all-time meeting between UMBC and Bryant, with the Retrievers winning the first seven games of the series. All seven games have been decided by less than 10 points. The series dates back to 2023 with the Bulldogs entering the America East prior to the 2022-23 campaign. In the first meeting, UMBC took down Bryant, 55-47, in front of a packed gym for Midday Madness. Jade Tillman recorded her first career double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds, scoring 10 of her 21 in the fourth quarter to ice the game away. UMBC led by 13 entering the fourth, but Bryant made a late push, pulling within one with just under two minutes left. Tillman would score the next eight points to seal the deal.
LAST TIME OUT
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UMBC narrowly missed out on a third straight victory, falling in a double overtime thriller to UAlbany on Saturday. Tied at 44-44 at the end of regulation, UAlbany outscored the Retrievers 25-19 across the two overtime periods to steal away the victory. Six Retrievers finished with seven or more points in the contest, led by a season-high 13 points from Carmen Yánez, who played the entire 50 minutes. Jade Tillman made it 19 straight games in double figures, contributing 12 points and seven rebounds on 50 percent shooting before fouling out in regulation. Heidi Williams contributed her third double-double of the season, scoring 11 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
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On Thursday, Nia Scott tallied 24 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double, including recording 15 points in the third quarter, in the Bryant University women's basketball team's 63-60 road victory against Binghamton. Mia Mancini posted 16 points, and Maranda Nyborg registered ten. Scott had her tenth double-double of the season and 11th double-figure rebound game. This is her third 20+ point performance and second in the last three games. Mancini had her 18th 10+ point game, and ninth in conference.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
- Bryant has proven itself as one of the toughest defensive teams in the country in 2025-26, ranking in the top-15 nationally in three key statistical categories.
- Bryant tops the nation in three-point field goal defense, allowing opponents to connect on just 24 percent of their attempts from distance. Bryant hasn't allowed more than eight threes in a game yet this season and has held its opponent to five or fewer makes 23 times. Opponents have shot under 30 percent 20 times this season from deep.
- The Bulldogs also rank seventh in Division I in scoring defense, allowing just 54.2 points per game. Bryant is also 14th nationally in field goal percentage defense, with teams shooting just 36 percent from the floor.
- Balanced offensively, Bryant has five players scoring between 7.2 and 12.8 points per game. Mia Mancini is the team's leading scorer at 12.8 per game, with Nia Scott not far behind at 12.2.
- Scott nearly averages a double-double per game, pulling down 8.8 rebounds and ranking 35th nationally with 10 double-doubles this season. Scott has pulled down at least 11 rebounds in each of her last three games, recording double-doubles with 25 points and 13 boards against UMass Lowell and 24 points and 11 boards versus Binghamton.
SCOUTING THE DAWGS
- The streak continues for Jade Tillman, who has scored 10 or more points in 19 straight games, dating back to November. Tillman is averaging 14.9 points per game on the season and 16.5 per game in America East play. The junior is 12 points away from recording the 21st 400-plus-point season in UMBC history. Inside the streak, Tillman has scored 15 or more 11 times and 20 or more four times.
- Tillman currently sits third all-time in single-season free throw percentage, knocking down 87.2 percent of her free throws. She ranks 28th in Division I and is second in the America East.
- Six-time America East Rookie of the Week, Heidi Williams continues to have a significant impact on the Retrievers' success. Averaging 10.0 points per game and 5.5 rebounds, Williams has upped those numbers to 11.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game in America East play. Williams has scored in double figures 12 times this season and in seven of 14 America East games. She recorded her third double-double of the season and second in league play on Saturday at UAlbany.
- Carmen Yanez sits 12th all-time in UMBC history with 261 assists, recently passing Karyn Swann and Michelle Kurowski on the all-time list. Yanez has nine games this season with five or more assists and has moved into the top-50 nationally, ranking 46th in assist/turnover ratio this season with a 1.96 mark.
- UMBC ranks third in the America East and 20th nationally in three-point percentage defense. Opposing teams are knocking down just 26.8 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 15 different games this season.
- Currently holding opponents to 58.1 points per game, the Retrievers rank 39th in Division I in scoring defense. With last Thursday's effort, UMBC has held the opposition under 50 points nine times this season.
- Continuing to pound the offensive glass, UMBC remains in the top 50 nationally in offensive boards per game with 14.1. Sitting 47th, the Retrievers have 20 or more offensive boards in five games this season and 15 or more in 10 games this season.
ROOKIE 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 a tie for fourth place on the UMBC list with 48 steals, just one shy of taking a solo hold on fourth. She is also three field goals and 17 points away from the freshmen top 10.
- Kennedy Austin recently moved into a tie for 10th on the rookie list in free throws made with 67, but has been kept from the free throw line in each of the last three games.
NOTHING BUT NET
- As of Monday, Feb. 24, UMBC ranks 194th 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.
- Bryant enters the game 139th in the NET, with its best win coming over Maine who sits 144th in the NET.
- UMBC in the Comprehensive WBB Rankings - NET - 194 | Massey - 259 | KPI - 186 | Her Hoops - 204
DAWGS IN THE TOP 10
UMBC has a number of players in the top 10 in the America East in various stat categories
- Jade Tillman - 1st in Steals (52), 2nd in FT % (87.2), 4th in FTM (95), 6th in RPG (7.2), 6th in PPG (14.9)
- Kennedy Austin - 7th in FT% (73.6), 9th in SPG (1.5)
- Carmen Yanez - 1st in A/TO (1.9), 4th in assists (102), 4th in APG (3.9)
- Delaney Yarborough - 8th in blocks & BPG (22, 0.8)
- Heidi Williams - 4th in SPG (1.8), 4th in steals (48)
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
