After allowing its fewest points in the Brenda Frese era in its season opener against Loyola Maryland, Maryland women’s basketball plays host another in-state opponent, UMBC, Thursday evening.
The Terps will look to make it two wins in four days at the Xfinity Center, against another opponent it should dismantle with relative ease.
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The game will tip at 6 p.m. and stream on Big Ten Plus.
UMBC Retrievers (1-0, 0-0 America East)
2024-25 Record: 14-15, 7-9 America East
The Retrievers are led by second-year head coach Candice Hill, who oversaw a slight improvement from 2023-24 in her first season at the helm. Hill came to UMBC from St. John’s, where she was an assistant coach for three seasons.
Her team got the ball rolling with a 90-49 blowout victory over Division III Stevenson Monday night. The Retrievers now face a massive leap in competition, taking on Maryland, Virginia and Brown in succession. Hill’s team will look to replace the production of their top four scorers from last season — all were graduated.
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Players to watch
Jade Tillman, junior forward, 6-foot-1, No. 24 – Like most coaches in the modern era of college basketball, Hill had to spend her offseason in the transfer portal, trying to replace substantial production. Tillman has the chance to be the crown jewel of the four-player transfer class Hill put together. She joined the Retrievers after playing sparingly at East Carolina, and put up 22 points in just 19 minutes in the season opener.
Alaina Williams, junior forward, 6-foot-1, No. 10 – Williams was a relatively small contributor for UMBC last year, having played just over 12 minutes per game. However, she seems poised to step into a bigger role this season, notching 13 points and eight rebounds on just six shots in the opener.
Carmen Yánez, senior guard, 5-foot-6, No. 15 – Like Williams, Yánez was a bench player for the Retrievers last season — she’s now taking a leap. Yánez initiates the offense as the team’s point guard, and after averaging more than three assists off the bench last season, she recorded 10 in the team’s first game and turned it over just twice. Maryland’s guards will look to make Yánez uncomfortable, and thereby disrupt UMBC’s offensive game plan.
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Strength
Size. UMBC has several effective forwards at six feet or taller, which is somewhat unusual for a mid-major program in the America East. While Maryland should find that it can often bully teams in the low post early in its slate, it might have a tougher time against UMBC’s front court. North Carolina A&T transfer Delaney Yarborough, who stands at 6-foot-3, contributed nine points and 11 rebounds in the win over Stevenson.
Weakness
Ball security. After averaging over 15 turnovers per game in 2024-25, UMBC has already regressed in that metric, amassing 23 turnovers against Stevenson. This could be a major issue against a Terps defense that forced Loyola into 29 giveaways in the opener. Maryland is an athletic, lengthy group that provides strong help defense and racks up plenty of steals in passing lanes.
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Three things to watch
1. When will Smikle debut? The Terps are awaiting the return of last season’s leading scorer, Kaylene Smikle. While her current designation from Frese is day-to-day, there’s a chance her first action will come against UMBC.
2. Garzon’s performance. The one small red flag in Maryland’s win over Loyola was a quiet three-point performance from highly-touted transfer Yarden Garzon. Frese said she did not see the performance as any reason for concern, so look for a potential bounce-back contest from the sharpshooter Thursday night.
3. Fifth starter. Frese opted to start Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu over Marya Boiko as the post player against Loyola Maryland, but Boiko has some solid minutes off the bench. It will be interesting to see if the Terps’ coach sticks with Ozzy-Momodu Thursday or gives Boiko her first official start as a Terp.
