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ALBANY, N.Y. – Freshman
Sydney Smith scored 20 points to lead Vermont, but the Albany Great Danes used a strong second half effort and 27 points from Imani Tate to post a 76-48 victory at SEFCU Arena in the regular season women's basketball finale for both teams.
Albany improved to 21-8 overall and finished America East play with a 14-2 mark. The Great Danes also earned a share of the America East Regular Season title thanks to the win and a loss by Maine at New Hampshire. Vermont falls to 5-23 and wraps up league play with a 2-14 record.
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Box Score (.pdf) Smith, scored 12 of her points in the second half and 15 of the 20 points came from behind the arc as she was 5-for-8 from 3-point range.
Niki Taylor added seven points and
Kylie Butler chipped in six points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds.
Tate was 10-for-17 from the floor and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. Shereesha Richards added 16 points, six rebounds and four steals for Albany.
Albany led 12-7 at the 12:21 mark of the first half and used a 14-6 spurt over the next six minutes to open up a 26-13 advantage on Vermont.
The Catamounts responded with a 9-4 run, including five points from Smith, to close the half to climb back within eight, 30-22, as the two teams headed into halftime.
Smith opened the second half with a 3-pointer to slice Albany's lead to five, but the Great Danes put together a decisive 17-7 run over the next eight minutes to pull out to a 47-32 lead.
Albany's lead would grow to 20 with just over 6 minutes remaining and the Great Danes maintained a comfortable lead the rest of the way.
Vermont and Albany will meet again on Saturday (March 7) in the quarterfinals of the America East Women's Basketball Tournament at the Events Center on the campus of Binghamton University.
The Catamounts are the No. 7 seed, while the Great Danes are the No. 2 seed. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. The game can be heard on WVMT-620 AM (online:
SportsJuice.com) and it will be available online via
ESPN3.com.
2015 America East Women's Basketball Championship
Saturday, March 7 - Quarterfinals - Binghamton UniversityGame 1: #1 Maine vs. #8 Binghamton, 12 p.m. - ESPN3
Game 2: #4 New Hampshire vs. #5 Hartford, 2:15 p.m. - ESPN3
Game 3: #2 Albany vs. #7 Vermont, 6 p.m. - ESPN3
Game 4: #3 Stony Brook vs. #6 Binghamton, 8:15 p.m. - ESPN3
Sunday, March 8 - Semifinals - Binghamton UniversityGame 5: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner - 2 p.m. - ESPN3
Game 6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner - 4:30 p.m. - ESPN3
Friday, March 13 - Championship Game - at highest remaining seed Semifinal Winners - 4:30 p.m. - ESPNU