FINAL SCORE: Oakland 74, Vermont 68
BURLINGTON, Vt. – The University of Vermont women's basketball team concluded 2015 by dropping its final non-conference matchup on Wednesday afternoon against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies 74-68 at Patrick Gym. UVM falls to 5-8 after a 4-2 run to close the non-conference slate, and the Golden Grizzlies improve to 8-4.
 
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"Oakland was a good matchup for us as a final non-conference game because they really push the ball and challenge you on both ends of the floor," said head coach Lori Gear McBride. "We simply didn't shoot the ball well enough to win today, particularly from outside and in the decisive third quarter. That said, the fight and resiliency in the fourth quarter was a silver lining. I love the way this group competes and am proud of the way they responded, even if it was too little, too late."
 
Nine Catamounts put points on the board as Katie Lavelle recorded a career-best 14 points and collected nine rebounds. Sydney Smith added 19 points off four 3-pointers, all coming in the fourth quarter, and Andreana Thomas registered 14 points and four assists.
 
Five Golden Grizzlies, including three starters, found themselves in double-figures. Olivia Nash led with 16 points and five boards, Nicole Dodd and Taylor Jones added 12 points each, and Sinclair Russell grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.
 
Vermont jumped out to an 18-10 lead after a three-minute, 14-6 run over Oakland in the first quarter. Lavelle grabbed an offensive board and laid in the putback with two minutes remaining for a seven-point (20-13) edge. A last second 3-pointer by Dodd ended the first 10 minutes with both teams knotted at 22 apiece.
 
Nash connected on the three-ball and a layup to give the Golden Grizzlies a five-point edge moments into the second quarter. Lavelle answered with back-to-back pull-up jumpers midway through the quarter, posting a season-high 12 points in the first half alone.
 
Oakland capped off the second quarter with another bucket from downtown to create a four-point cushion (40-36) heading into the second half. Despite the Golden Grizzlies shooting 8-for-12 from 3-point range in the half, Vermont grabbed 23 boards versus Oakland's 15.
 
It was a quiet third quarter for both teams as Oakland went 1-for-9 from the field and Vermont shot 1-for-11 in the first five minutes. The Golden Grizzlies started to pull away as they closed out the quarter with a 57-42 lead after a 9-2 stretch over UVM.
 
Two key triples by Smith and a layup by Gracia Hutson fueled an 8-1 UVM run and sliced Oakland's lead to single-digits (61-55) to start the final quarter. The Golden Grizzlies followed in suit with their own 9-1 run for a 67-56 advantage with two minutes left to play. Vermont fought and played a tough fourth quarter, reaching within five of Oakland, but two trips to the charity stripe sealed the Golden Grizzlys' six-point victory.

Vermont begins its conference schedule at UMBC on Saturday (Jan. 2) at 2 p.m. Radio coverage in Baltimore begins 20 minutes prior to tip-off at 1:40 p.m. on WVMT 620-AM and SportsJuice.com with Eli Pearlstein calling the action. All conference games can also be viewed for free via AmericaEast.tv.