FINAL SCORE: Albany 67, Vermont 52
BURLINGTON, Vt. – Senior
Kylie Butler had 10 points to go with four rebounds and three steals, but Vermont could not contain Albany's Imani Tate (33 pts) as the Catamounts fell 67-52 on Senior Night at Patrick Gymnasium.
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In conjunction with Senior Night, UVM held a special pregame ceremony on-court to recognize Butler as well as graduate transfer
Kallie Banker.
Albany managed to build momentum right out of the gate, using a 7-0 run in 1:09 to take an early lead. Tate took over during the stretch, putting down her first five of 19 first quarter points.
The Great Danes closed the second quarter by beginning a 14-0 run that stretched into the third period. Tate hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer as the first half expired, then added five more points in the sequence that also saw contributions from Jessica Féquière (3) and Tiana-Jo Carter (3).
Vermont proceeded to counter with a 14-3 run which Butler,
Hanna Crymble,
Hayley Robertson and
Katie Lavelle each contributed to.
In the final 10 minutes the Catamounts outscored Albany by a 21-12 margin and created 11 points off of turnovers. Butler gave Vermont six consecutive points on a layup, 3-pointer and free throw and sandwiched that between a layup and two free throws by
Candice Wright. However, the early surge by the visitors was too much to overcome in the end.
Crymble had a team-high 13 points on the night while Robertson added 12 of her own for Vermont. Wright registered two blocks in the setback and now has a total of 89 in her career. In doing so, she is now tied for sixth in program history with Lani Boardman (2001-05). Wright remains the fastest in school history to 89 blocks and needed just 53 games to reach the figure.
The setback drops the Catamounts to 8-19 on the season and 5-10 in America East play, while Albany is now 17-11 and 11-4 against conference foes.
Vermont closes out the regular season on Sunday (Feb. 26) at Stony Brook. That game is slated for a 2 p.m. start. Following the Stony Brook game, UVM will begin preparations for the America East Tournament, which begins on Saturday, March 4 with the conference quarterfinals at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland, Maine.