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BURLINGTON, Vt. – Sydney Smith and
Niki Taylor scored 14 points each for Vermont, but UMBC used a strong second half effort to post a 68-61 victory over the Catamounts in America East women's basketball action at Patrick Gymnasium on Saturday.
UMBC improves to 6-11 overall and picks up its first league victory (1-3). Vermont falls to 3-14 on the year and 0-5 in the conference.
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Box Score (.pdf)
CatamounTV Highlights"Once again I'm disappointed with the outcome and know that we let a winnable game slip through our fingers. The 28 turnovers and UMBC's pressure kept us from getting enough offensive possessions to match their scoring. I was pleased to see
Niki Taylor get back on track with a solid effort and
Jordan Eisler handling the majority of the point guard duties," said head coach
Lori Gear McBride.
Taylor scored 12 of her 14 points in the second half and added eight rebounds. Smith grabbed seven rebounds and
Kylie Butler chipped in 10 points and five boards.
Emilie Cloutier collected a game-high 10 rebounds and added eight points and three steals for Vermont.
Capree Garner, UMBC's leading scorer, poured in a game-high 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Taylor McCarley added 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
The Catamounts led 30-22 with 3:17 left in the first half, but Retrievers closed the stanza with a 10-2 spurt to tie the game up, 32-32, as the two teams headed to the locker room.
Vermont, which shot 43.3 percent for the first half, was limited to 26.1 percent shooting in the second half. The Retrievers, meanwhile, maintained their shooting percentage (40%) for the second stanza.
The Catamounts led 43-38 with 12:23 remaining in the second half, but UMBC used a 12-1 run to push out in front by six, 50-44, with 6:49 left in the game. A pair of free throws by Cloutier tied the game up at 50 with just over five minutes left, but the Retrievers used another scoring spurt, 10-3, to extend their lead to seven, 60-53, with 2:01 showing on the clock.
UVM was held to one field goal over the final two minutes as UMBC held off the Catamounts to earn the victory.
Vermont returns to action on Thursday (Jan. 22) when it travels to Maine. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, Maine.
Kevin Fitzgerald will have the play-by-play call on WVMT-620 AM (online:
SportsJuice.com). The game will also be streamed for free via
AmericaEast.tv.