WOMEN'S BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK
Vermont women's basketball closes out the weekend on Sunday (Feb. 12) with a noon tilt against UMBC in Burlington. This game also is the first of three straight that the Catamounts will play within the confines of Patrick Gymnasium.
 
Fans are reminded to note that this game was previously scheduled for Saturday, but was rescheduled as a result of inclement weather sweeping across the Northeast United States.
 
Alastair Ingram and Bernie Cieplicki will call the game on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app, while Tyler Terens will oversee the play-by-play on WVMT 620-AM as well as Catamounts All-Access. Live stats will be accessible through SIDEARM Stats.
 
RELATED LINKS
Video | Audio | Live Stats | Tickets
Vermont Notes (.pdf) | UMBC Notes (.pdf)
 
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CATAMOUNTS RECAP
Sydney Smith led Vermont with 15 points, but the Catamounts could not contain New Hampshire's Carlie Pogue as UVM fell 66-47 Lundholm Gymnasium on Thursday night. Kristina White added nine points in the effort, including six in the second half.
 
UVM kept the Wildcats within reach throughout the opening period, working to even the score three different times. However, after tying the score at seven-all, New Hampshire proceeded to close the first quarter with 9-3 run en route to a 16-10 lead heading into period two. Pogue led all scorers with 24 points and needed just two more to tie a single game career-high.
 
SCOUTING UMBC
Winners in seven of its last eight, the Retrievers (12-12, 7-4 AE) currently sit third in America East, behind New Hampshire (10-1) and Albany (9-3). UMBC makes the trip north from Hartford on the heels of a 64-47 win over the Hawks on Friday. That game was also affected by the recent stretch of inclement weather as it was originally scheduled for this past Thursday night (Feb. 9).
 
Against the Hawks, freshman Allison McGrath drained 17 points for a career-high in part as a result of five 3-pointers and the Retrievers held Hartford to just 27.8 percent shooting in the win. In the middle two quarters UMBC outscored the Hawks by a combined margin of 29-13.
 
Taylor McCarley heads up the team's offensive efforts, draining a team-best 15.5 points per game on the season and helping the group emerge as one of the top 3-point shooting squad's in America East (33.6 percent). Also in the mix is Laura Castaldo (11.4 ppg), while senior Pandora Wilson has compiled an even six rebounds per night.
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
UMBC holds a 15-14 all-time upper hand, taking the last six meetings of the sides. The Catamounts' longest winning streak in the series also happens to be at six, as UVM grabbed consecutive victories from 2008-10. Niki Taylor and then-freshman Kristina White combined to score UVM's final 14 points en route to the squad's most recent victory over the Retrievers, a 63-59 result in Burlington on Jan. 18, 2014.
 
LAST TIME AROUND
At UMBC on January 14, Kristina White led the Catamounts with 18 points, while Crymble's 10 boards were a team-high. The latter also contributed 11 points to secure her second career double-double but a late sequence in overtime pushed the Retrievers to a 69-66 win. A total of 12 lead changes occurred during a very closely-contested second half and overtime period.
 
ALL THE 'WRIGHT' REASONS
Sophomore Candice Wright continues to leave a mark in the UVM record book. The native of Cambridge, Ontario has registered 83 blocks in less than two seasons and sits in a tie for eighth all-time in program history with former Catamount Morgan Hall (1999-2003). Wright holds the distinction of being the fastest in program history to reach that mark (48 games). Of the top-7 blockers all-time, none had more than 47 through their their sophomore campaign (Karalyn Church through the 1997-98 season).
 
As a freshman last year, Wright logged 50 blocks, setting a single-season program record. If she continues at her current pace of 1.5 per game, she will break Katie McNamara's (2001-05) all-time program record of 102 career blocks no later than her junior campaign.
 
HEY ROOKIE!
On Monday (Feb. 6), freshman Hanna Crymble was honored for the second time as the America East Rookie of the Week. She played an integral part in UVM's thrilling double overtime win over Hartford last Saturday (Feb. 4), inking 20 points in the scorebook to go with 13 rebounds to secure her fourth career double-double.
 
She went 13-for-25 from the field in her 45-minute effort, also turning in a 6-for-7 sheet from the free throw line. The win over Hartford secured UVM's first against the Hawks since Jan. 7, 2012 and first in Burlington since Feb. 13, 2008.
 
GOOD THINGS COME IN THREE'S
In Vermont's January 4 win over Maine, UVM allowed just three second quarter points, representing a tie for the fewest allowed by the team in a single 10-minute period. In a Feb. 28, 2016 victory over Stony Brook, UVM surrendered just three points in the fourth quarter in preserving a 44-37 victory over the Seawolves at Patrick Gymnasium.
 
WELCOME TO VERMONT, COACH
A 1997 graduate of West Chester University in Pennsylvania, head coach Chris Day arrives in Vermont following a three-year stint as an assistant at the University of Pennsylvania. During his time at Penn, the Quakers punched two tickets to the NCAA Tournament and captured two Ivy League titles. The squad amassed 67 wins during his tenure, including a remarkable 36-6 mark in conference action.
 
The eighth head coach in UVM history, Day also spent time in coaching capacities at Indiana (2012-13), Saint Joseph's (2005-12) and La Salle (2004-05). He served a three-year stint (2000-03) as head coach at Division III Widener University in Chester, Pennsylvania, helping Widener make its first postseason appearance in 20 years.
 
NEXT UP
The Catamounts host UMass Lowell on Wednesday, Feb. 15 in a 7 p.m. game at Patrick Gymnasium.
 
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