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BURLINGTON, Vt. – The Brown Bears used a late rally to erase a seven-point deficit and pull out an 81-76 win over Vermont at Patrick Gymnasium in the women's basketball season opener for both teams.
"I thought we played well for about 38 minutes of the game and saw some good things," said Vermont head coach
Lori Gear McBride. "The foul trouble stopped our momentum early on. There were a lot of positives to take away and we will learn from today and keep moving forward. Niki played a complete game and
Kylie Atwood was very solid."
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Emilie Cloutier with 4:11 left in the game gave Vermont a 72-65 lead. Brown answered with a 16-4 run to close the game for the victory. Jordin Alexander and Ellise Sharpe combined for 11 of the Bears' 16 points and Brown was aided by a 7-for-10 effort from the foul line.
Sharpe made one of two free throws at the 1:52 mark to knot the game up, 74-74. Alexander added a layup with 1:17 left to push Brown ahead by two and Sophie Bikofsky made a pair of free throws with 31 seconds remaining to extend Brown's lead to four. UVM's
Sydney Smith converted a pair of free throws with 12 seconds remaining to bring UVM within two, 78-76, but that's as close as Vermont could get in the closing seconds as Smith's 3-point attempt at the buzzer was too strong.
Brown jumped out to a 7-3 lead to start the game, but the Catamounts responded with a 13-4 run to take a six-point lead, 16-10 with 14:01 left in the half. The Bears came back to tie the game up at 18 with 12:15 left and the game remained tightly contested the rest of the stanza, neither team held more than a three point edge over the final eight minutes.
The Catamounts took a 38-37 lead at the break after shooting 46.7 percent from the floor.
Vermont used a 10-1 run out of the locker room to open the second half, opening up an eight-point lead and extended its lead to 12 on a 3-pointer by
Kylie Atwood at the 11:27 mark.
Brown chipped away and climbed back within one on a 3-pointer by Bikofsky with 9:41 left. Vermont answered with a 12-6 spurt to push back out to a seven-point lead, but that's when the Bears mounted their comeback effort.
Alexander led all scorers with 25 points and added five assists. Janie White chipped in 15 points and eight rebounds, while Bikofsky added 17 points for Brown.
Niki Taylor began her senior season with her sixth career double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing 13 rebounds to lead the Catamounts.
Kylie Butler added 13 points and six boards and
Kylie Atwood chipped in 11 points.
Vermont hosts Bryant on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Patrick Gymnasium. Tickets can be purchased online at
UVMathletics.com, in person at the UVM Athletic Ticket Office located on the balcony of Patrick Gymnasium (M-F: 9 a.m.-5 p.m.), via the phone at 802-656-1818, or in person one hour before tipoff in the Patrick Gymnasium Lobby.
NOTES: Vermont dominated the boards, out rebounding Brown 50-33 … UVM handed out 16 assists on 28 field goals … Brown scored 20 points off of 21 turnovers by the Catamounts … The Vermont bench out scored the Brown bench 30-14 in the game.