FINAL SCORE: New Hampshire 66, Vermont 47
DURHAM, N.H. –
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.
RELATED LINKS
Box Score
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.
In part a result of hot shooting by Pogue and Kat Forgarty, UNH then netted 13 of the first 16 points in the second frame.
Hayley Robertson drained a free throw and Smith added the Catamounts' next eight points, including six from the line, but Pogue had 10 of her own in the quarter to send her team into the break ahead 35-22.
The Wildcats finished the opening 20 minutes shooting an even 50 percent from the field on 13-of-26 attempts. Pogue had 16 points to go with six rebounds and Fogarty put up nine points of her own.
Coming out of halftime it was the Wildcats who continued their strong shooting performance, going 10-for-16 from the field (62.5 percent) en route to a game-high 21-point lead midway through the third.
Candice Wright had five points in the quarter and
Hanna Crymble grabbed a steal, but UVM could not trim the deficit below 13.
In the fourth quarter UVM was outscored only 10-9 and even strung together a 7-2 run including a pair of 3-pointers by White. Unfortunately for the Catamounts, the rally proved too little, too late.
Kylie Butler came down with five rebounds on the night and Smith added three steals for Vermont. Wright remains tied for eighth all-time in program history with 83 career blocks and needs one more to pass former Catamount Morgan Hall (1999-2003) for sole possession of the spot.
Pogue led all scorers with 24 points, needing just two more to tie a single game career-high.
With the setback, UVM falls to 7-17 on the season and 4-8 in America East, while UNH moves to 20-4 and 10-1 against conference foes.
Vermont is back on the hardwood on Sunday (Feb. 12) as the Catamounts host UMBC at noon. Fans should note that this game was previously scheduled for Saturday (Feb. 11), but was moved to Sunday as a result of inclement weather across the Northeast United States.