WOMEN'S BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK
Vermont returns to action when it travels to Newark, New Jersey to take on the NJIT Highlanders on Sunday (Dec. 20). Tip-off at Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center is set for 2 p.m.
 
Due to the men's hockey game airing on WVMT 620-AM, the game will be streamed exclusively on SportsJuice.com. with Rob Ryan calling the action. The game can also be viewed for free by clicking here.
 
RELATED LINKS
Game Coverage - Video | Audio | Stats | Game Notes (.pdf)
 
ABOUT VERMONT
The Catamounts (3-6, 0-0) rank third in the conference in 3-point field goal percentage at a clip of 30.2-percent and their defense holds opponents to just 36.5-percent from the field, the lowest percentage in America East.
 
Vermont's defense also blocks more shots than any other team in the conference (48) and ranks among the top-35 in the NCAA. Behind three players who rank among the top-five in America East, UVM averages 5.3 blocks per game, 1.5 more than the second-ranked team.

LAST TIME OUT | Highlights
UVM collected its second straight win on Dec. 9 at Leede Arena as it downed Dartmouth 56-54. Courtney Wright's bucket with nine seconds left in the fourth quarter gave the Catamounts their first road win as they improved to 3-6.
 
Junior Kylie Butler registered double-figure scoring for the first time this season with 12 points and six rebounds off the bench. Andreana Thomas led UVM with a season-high 16 points and posted a team-best eight rebounds. A total of 10 Catamounts scored points as the team shot 37-percent from the field overall in Vermont's third win.
 
Wright tied the game for the first time since the second quarter at 47 apiece with 6:40 remaining in the final quarter. Thomas evened the score again on a floater with less than a minute left as the teams were knotted at 54. Butler then drove the right baseline and found Wright open at the left elbow as she floated a lefty layup over the front rim for the game-winning basket.
 
With the clock ticking down, Lakin Roland missed a corner three to win the game, and Amber Mixon's leaner from the foul line was too late as time expired and Vermont held on for the victory.
 
SMITH IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Sydney Smith paces Vermont's offense by averaging 12.4 points per game and 7.2 rebounds per game in her 30.2 minutes on the floor. In her nine starts this season, she has recorded double-digits in the scoring column four times. Her 7.2 rpg is almost double of her 4.0 rpg last season.
 
She also had another career game on Dec. 6 in the Catamounts' win against Sacred Heart. Smith posted six blocks for a career and game best, totaling 14 (1.6 blocks per game) on the season for the most on the team.
 
Smith recorded her second double-double (30 points, 11 rebounds) in six games against Quinnipiac on Nov. 28. Smith drained seven shots from behind the arc, a personal and a current conference-best, and tallied 30 total points, the most of any Catamount since assistant coach Courtnay Pilypaitis posted 36 points during the 2009-10 season. She grabbed 11 rebounds for a career-high as well.
 
A HOT START FOR HAYLEY
Freshman Hayley Robertson has made a name for herself at UVM in her short time in Burlington. The Toronto native is averaging 9.1 ppg, ranks second on the team with 2.9 assists per game, and paces the squad with 14 steals. Robertson has started seven of Vermont's nine games at guard this season and ranks among the top-10 for assists in America East.
 
TWO OF A KIND
Candice Wright and Courtney Wright have made a significant impact for the Catamounts as true freshmen this season. The Cambridge, Ontario natives are shooting over 40-percent from the field to combine for over 100 points, and account for 20.7-percent of Vermonts 533 total points. The Wrights have been dynamic under the basket grabbing 36 rebounds apiece.
 
CATS IN THE CONFERENCE
Four Catamounts are positioned among the top-10 in seven categories in the America East standings. Smith has been a force on both ends of the floor this season as she leads the conference in 3-pointers made (25) and has grabbed the sixth-most defensive rebounds (48).
 
Smith, Candice Wright and Gracia Hutson rank second, third and fourth in the conference in blocks, each averaging at least one block per game. Graduate student Andreana Thomas dishes out the sixth-most assists per game (4.0 apg) and also has the sixth-best free throw percentage in America East by averaging 82-percent from the line (27-for-33).
 
Hutson has been a force on the boards over the last four games for Vermont. The senior grabbed 32 rebounds in those four contests.

SCOUTING NJIT
The Highlanders have won three of their first nine games this season before facing Vermont during head coach Steve Lanpher's fourth season at NJIT. The women's basketball program is in its first season with the Atlantic Sun Conference after previously being the only Division I Independent in the nation in both 2013-14 and 2014-15.

Lanpher also spent four seasons as an assistant coach for UVM. Vermont's combined record in Lanpher's four years on the staff was 91-40 and in his second year with the Catamounts, they finished 24-9 and advanced to the second round of the Women's NIT. The next two years, they were America East Conference champions, reaching the NCAA Tournament in both 2009 and 2010.
 
NJIT returns junior center Leah Horton who leads the team in scoring (12.1 ppg) and rebounding (7.2 rpg) for a second straight season, reaching double-figures in the scoring column in seven of her nine games this year. Horton was chosen Preseason Player of the Year by Atlantic Sun fans and was picked Second Team All-Atlantic Sun by CollegeSports-Madness.
 
Red-shirt freshman Kelly Guarino ranks first in the Atlantic Sun in 3-point percentage and 3-pointers made. Guarino shoots 45-percent from downtown and has connected on 29 total three-point buckets. As a team, the Highlanders are averaging 54.6 points per game and shooting 37-percent from the field.

SERIES HISTORY
Sunday marks the first meeting between Vermont and NJIT in program history. UVM is just 1-2 against programs in the Atlantic Sun Conference. The last time the Catamounts faced a school in the ASC was in 2013 when they topped North Florida 68-44 at Patrick Gym.
 
WHO'S NEXT
The Catamounts continue through the holiday season and travel to Newark, Delaware to face the Delaware Blue Hens on Tuesday (Dec. 22) at 6 p.m. followed by a trip to Boston University on Monday (Dec. 28) for a 1 p.m. game. Vermont returns home on Wednesday, Dec. 30 for its final non-conference matchup against Oakland at 2 p.m.