FINAL SCORE (2OT): Vermont 76, Hartford 70
BURLINGTON, Vt. – Freshman
Hanna Crymble led all scorers with 20 points to go with 13 rebounds for her fourth career double-double and
Candice Wright had seven points between both overtime periods as Vermont eked out a 76-70 victory over Hartford on Saturday afternoon at Patrick Gymnasium.
RELATED LINKS
CatamounTV Highlights
Box Score
Kristina White added 16 points of her own, complementing
Sydney Smith's 12 as well as 11 for Wright. Wright also registered two blocks on the day and with that figure, entered into a tie with Morgan Hall (1999-2003) for eighth in program history with 83 career swats.
As a team, UVM posted a 26-for-48 day (54.2 percent) shooting, holding Hartford to 30.9 percent on 25-for-81 from the field. The Hawks never led by more than four and UVM swelled a lead to as many as nine in a game that saw 10 ties and 12 lead changes.
The Catamounts carried a 59-57 lead into the final 10 seconds of regulation, but coming out of a timeout, Hartford's Janelle Harrison received a baseline inbounds pass from Sierra DaCosta and ultimately drove for a game-tying layup off the window with just 3.3 seconds left.
As the first overtime period progressed the Green and Gold found themselves down four with under two minutes to play. Harrison buried a layup and converted and old-fashioned 3-point play to give the Hawks a 68-64 advantage, but Wright countered with a layup of her own and Crymble followed with a pair from the charity stripe in the final minute.
Wright nearly sent Patrick Gymnasium into a frenzy as the first extra session wound to a close. Receiving an inbounds pass from Smith in front of her own bench, she put up a turnaround jumper that beat the buzzer and nearly went home, but trickled out at the last second.
Vermont finally sealed the win in the second overtime using an 8-0 run. After Mayza gave the Hawks a 70-68 lead with 4:40 on the clock, UVM received two points each from Smith, Wright, Crymble and
Katie Lavelle. In that same stretch, the Catamounts stepped up to hold Hartford scoreless on its next eight field goals.
UVM (7-15, 4-6 AE) dominated the Hawks (14-8, 5-4 AE) in the paint, outscoring its opponent 40-22. The Catamounts also received 13 points from the bench, compared to just three for Hartford.
Four Hawks turned in double-figure performances, led by Mayza's 18 points and Harrison's 16 on the afternoon.
Vermont now faces a quick turnaround and heads out to Binghamton for a Monday night (Feb. 6) game, which tips at 7 p.m.