WOMEN'S BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK
The Catamounts play their final game of the non-conference schedule when they play the Panthers of Florida International University for the first time in program history. The non-conference finale is on Saturday afternoon (Dec. 30) at Ocean Bank Convocation Center in Miami. The 1 p.m. tilt is UVM's last game of the 2017 calendar year before Vermont heads home to host UMass Lowell on Jan. 3 to commence America East play.
   
The game against FIU airs online on conferenceusa.com on a pay-per-view basis. However, like every UVM game, an audio broadcast is also available on CatamounTV.com and News/Talk 620 WVMT-AM. Pregame coverage with Logan Ratick starts at 12:40 p.m., with tip-off set for 1 p.m.
 
RELATED LINKS
Video | Audio | Live Stats | Game Notes
 
TICKETS
Fans can purchase tickets for Vermont's first conference home game of 2017-18 against UMass Lowell (Jan. 3) by visiting UVMathletics.com/Tickets. Additionally, tickets can be acquired by calling the UVM Athletic Ticket Office at (802) 656-4410 or by visiting the office, located on the balcony of the Patrick Gymnasium Lobby. On game days, tickets can be purchased beginning one hour before tip-off in the Patrick Gymnasium Lobby.
 
CATAMOUNTS RECAP
The Catamounts snapped a seven-game skid with a 62-48 win over Central Connecticut State University in front of more than 2,000 fans on Dec. 21 in what was the final home game of non-conference play.
 
It was UVM's first victory since beating Howard at home on Nov. 17. All three of the Catamounts' victories this season have come by 14 points or more.
 
Sydney Smith led the way for Vermont offensively. The senior recorded her first double-double of the season with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Smith added two assists and a steal, made all four of her free throw attempts and buried three of her seven three-point tries.
 
Meanwhile, Hanna Crymble posted double-figures in the scoring column for the 10th time in 12 games this season. Crymble scored 14 points while adding four rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals.
 
Candice Wright put forth a solid effort off the bench with seven points and seven rebounds in 20 minutes of action. The more impressive note is that UVM's all-time leading shot-blocker added five rejections to her record total. It was Wright's second five-block game this season (the other game was earlier in the month, Dec. 1 at Rider).
 
Against CCSU, Vermont shot 35% from the field, 33% from three-point range and 71% from the free throw line as a team. UVM won the rebounding battle 49-34.
  
SCOUTING FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
Tiara Malcom is in her second season as head coach of the FIU Panthers. It is her first collegiate head coaching job. Malcom joined the FIU women's basketball program as an assistant coach in 2015-16. She was named the interim head coach for the final four games of that season before landing the job full-time.
 
Last season, Malcom's Panthers went 5-24. She is a native of Wilmington, Delaware and was a standout basketball player at the University of Delaware, where she received her bachelor's degree (2005) and master's degree (2011). Before FIU, Malcom spent nine seasons as an assistant at her alma mater.
  
The Panthers have lost six straight games dating back to Nov. 29 at Georgetown. They lost their season opener at Miami (FL) 77-69 on Nov. 10, two days before the Catamounts lost to the Hurricanes in Coral Gables, Florida.
 
FIU is 2-10 overall and 2-6 at home. The two wins this season have come against Air Force (Nov. 19), which was a 70-69 victory, and Charleston Southern (Nov. 26). The Panthers have hosted two tournaments: the 2017 Thanksgiving Tournament and the 2017 Holiday Tournament.
 
The only two Panthers averaging 30 or more minutes per game are the only FIU players to average double-figures through the first 12 games of this season. Both of these players are juniors: Kristian Hudson (14.9 PPG) and Kiandre'a Pound (14.2).
 
Quira Demery (R-Sr.) is the only senior on the team. She previously played at the College of Central Florida. FIU's roster contains five freshman, including two players that start (Callie Cavanaugh and Lauryn Snipes).  
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
This is the first ever meeting between the two programs. In fact, Vermont's first game played in South Florida in program history came on Nov. 12 at Miami (FL).
 
HISTORY BEFORE OUR EYES
Candice Wright's five blocked shots against Rider on Friday, Dec. 1 placed her in sole possession for first-all time in career blocks by a Catamount. The junior broke Katie McNamara's ('05) record of 102 blocked shots on her first rejection of the contest. Wright has recorded five blocks on Dec. 21 against CCSU and now has 118 blocked shots for her career.
  
DIALING FROM LONG DISTANCE
 With her three three-point makes against CCSU last time out, Smith remains fifth all-time in that category in Vermont history with 166 total. She is four triples shy of tying Kayla Burchill ('15) for fourth all-time.
 
Additionally, Kristina White is now in sole possession of eighth place all-time in program history with 130 for her career, one shy of UVM hall of famer Morgan Hall ('03).
 
As a team, Vermont is shooting 28% from downtown and averaging seven made three-pointers per game. Out of UVM's 679 field goal attempts through the first 12 games of the regular season, just over 44% have come from behind the three-point line. 
 
Individually, the most proficient three-point shooting Catamounts have been Cassidy Derda (36%), Crymble (32%) and White (29%).
  
NEXT UP
Vermont returns home for its first game of 2018 and its first contest of America East play this season. In that matchup, UVM hosts UMass Lowell on Wednesday, Jan. 3 at 7 p.m. on Tom Brennan Court at Patrick Gym.

As always for a UVM home game, the video broadcast for the UMass Lowell game can be found on ESPN3, with Alastair Ingram and Bernie Cieplicki on the call. 

Logan Ratick handles the radio broadcast for Vermont's first America East game of the year. Pregame coverage for the Catamounts' battle with UMass Lowell starts at 6:40 p.m., followed by the game at 7 p.m. on CatamounTV.com and News/Talk 620 WVMT-AM.