BALTIMORE - UMBC treks to West Virginia to take on Marshall in the Second Round of the WNIT on Monday night. UMBC and Marshall each earned at-large bids into the field. The Retrievers knocked off Ohio in the opening round, while Marshall received a bye and will be playing for the first time in over two weeks.
THE BRACKET
HOW THEY GOT HERE
- UMBC entered the Air Force Reserve America East Playoffs as the #4 seed after posting a 10-6 record in conference play this season. The Retrievers went 15-13 overall in the regular season, closing out the season with victories in four of their last five games. UMBC defeated New Hampshire at home on Feb. 14 before knocking off top-seeded Vermont in Burlington on Feb. 19. After a loss in 2OT at UAlbany, UMBC bounced back with a 2OT victory over Bryant before closing out the year with a victory over UMass Lowell.
-
Vermont came into the tournament as the number one seed, going 24-7 (13-3) in the regular season. UVM's only three America East losses came to the three teams remaining in the America East Playoffs (Maine, Binghamton, UMBC). The Catamounts have won six of their last seven contests.
LAST TIME OUT
-
On Thursday, UMBC fought back from a 17-point second-quarter deficit to take Ohio to overtime before outlasting the Bobcats in the extra period for a 62-58 victory in the WNIT. The win is the Retrievers' first postseason victory since a 61-49 win over Fairfield in the WBIT in 2016. Jade Tillman scored 13 points and grabbed five rebounds, while Kennedy Austin chipped in 12 points and five boards, knocking down a number of free throws to ice the game away in overtime. Heidi Williams added 10 points and nine rebounds, while Delaney Yarbrough chipped in eight points and 11 boards.
-
Marshall Women's Basketball fell to South Alabama, 73-58, in the fourth round of the Sun Belt Conference Women's Basketball Tournament on March 6 at Pensacola Bay Center in Pensacola, Fla. In the loss, senior Timaya Lewis-Eutsey finished with 18 points, eight steals and six rebounds. The eight steals were one off the tournament record of nine, set by Western Kentucky's Dawn Warner in 1996. Peyton Ilderton also hit four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points while Timberlynn Yeast ended the game with 10.
SERIES HISTORY
- Monday night's meeting will be the first in program history between UMBC and Marshall.
AWARD SZN
- Jade Tillman leads a handful of Retrievers honored by the America East this season, as the sixth player in program history to earn All-America East First Team honors! Tillman was also named the league's Newcomer of the Year, making her the third Retriever to earn the honor.
- Additionally, Heidi Williams and Kennedy Austin were named to the All-Rookie Team, Tiara Bellamy was named to the All-Defensive Team, and Tillman was named to the All-Academic Team.
SCOUTING THE THUNDERING HERD
- Marshall is a strong deterrent defensively, ranking 26th in the nation in blocks per game and 11th in the nation in steals per game. The Thundering Herd swat 4.9 shots per contest and come away with 12.3 steals per game. They also rank in the top-30 in Division I in turnover margin, winning the battle by 4.56 per game.
- Offensively, the Sun Belt foe will provide a great contrast in style as one of the more prolific three-point shooting teams in the country. Marshall makes 8.9 threes per game, nearly double the Retrievers, ranking 13th in DI. They also rank 10th in three-point attempts per game, firing away 27.6 times per game from deep.
- Timaya Lewis-Eutsey is a weapon on both ends for Marshall. The First Team All-Sun Belt selection was also the league's Newcomer of the Year and a member of the All-Defensive team. She was previously an All-A-10 Third Team choice at VCU before transferring to Marshall. Lewis-Eutsey ranks fourth in the nation with 120 steals, sixth in steals per game (3.75), 26th in points per game (19.3), and 19th in free throws (159). She was named a Finalist for the 2026 Lilly Women's College All-Star Game.
- Olivia Olson was having a standout freshman campaign, averaging 12.9 points and four rebounds per game before injury cut her season short. Meredith Maier and Peyton Ilderton are second and third among active players in scoring, averaging 9.4 and 9.3 points respectively. Maier has made 79 triples this season, which is third in Marshall history.
- The Herd are led by Juli Fulks in her second year after a historic career at Transylvania. Fulks won 400 games at Transylvania, including the 2022-23 title.
SCOUTING THE DAWGS
- UMBC ranks 14th nationally in three-point percentage defense. The Retrievers are holding teams to just 26.5 percent from long range, marking them as one of just 16 women's programs in the country to allow a percentage lower than 27.0. Three of the 18 teams are in the America East with Bryant and Vermont ranking 1st and 4th. \
- Allowing 58.2 points per game, UMBC ranks 36th nationally in scoring defense. The Retrievers are one of four America East teams ranked in the top-40 in the country in scoring defense. UMBC has allowed 50 or fewer points in 10 contests this season, going 10-0 in those games.
- UMBC continues to move up nationally in turnover margin. The Retrievers win the turnover battle by 3.58 per game, moving recently into the top-60 in Division I. UMBC has won the turnover battle in 22 of 31 games, going 14-8 in those contests.
- Tillman has scored double-digit points in 24 straight games dating back to November. The junior needs 11 points on Monday to become the sixth player in program history to reach 500 points in a season. She also ranks 40th in the country with a free throw percentage of 86.5. Yanez ranks just outside the top-50 nationally in assist/turnover ratio, sitting 53rd with a mark of 1.88.
NOTHING BUT NET
- UMBC finished the 2025-26 season ranked 186th in the NET. It is the highest-ever ranking and the best-ever finish for the Retrievers in the NET era.
- 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.
- Marshall ranked 102nd in the final NET ratings, going 0-2 against Quad 1 competition, 1-2 against Quad 2 competition, and 2-2 against Quad 3 teams.
- UMBC in the Comprehensive WBB Rankings - NET - 186 | Massey - 248 | KPI - 163
RECORD REPORT
The 2025-26 season has seen a number of Retrievers etch their names into UMBC history. The following is a list of current Retrievers and their ranks in the UMBC Record Books.
CAREER
Jade Tillman - 2nd in FT % - 86.5
Carmen Yanez - 12th in Ast - 283
SEASON
Jade Tillman - 7th in Points - 489, 6th in Free Throws - 128, 3rd in FT % - 86.5, 10th in Free Throw Attempts - 148
Delaney Yarborough - 8th in FG % - 51.9
SENIOR
Carmen Yanez - 6th in Ast - 124
JUNIOR
Jade Tillman - 4th in Points - 489, 5th in PPG - 15.8, 7th in Rebounds - 233, T4th in Steals - 61, 4th in Free Throws - 128, 5th in Free Throw Attempts - 148, 7th in Field Goals - 161, 6th in FG Attempts - 436,
FRESHMAN
Heidi Williams - 8th in Points - 296, 4th in Steals - 54, 7th in Field Goals - 118, 7th in Field Goal Attempts - 313
Kennedy Austin - 5th in Free Throws - 79, 8th in Free Throw Attempts - 109
TEAM
T4th in Wins - 17, T5th in Games Played - 31, 5th in Points - 1,941, T4th in Least PPG Allowed - 58.2, 4th in Free Throws - 425, T4th in Steals - 303
PLAYOFF BASKETBALL!
- Thursday's game marked the first postseason tournament contest for the UMBC women since 2017. Marshall missed postseason play in 2024-25 after reaching the NCAA Tournament in 2023-24 as a 13-seed.
- UMBC played seven regular-season games against WNIT competition. All four teams the Retrievers matched up with won their opening round contests.
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.
