BURLINGTON, Vt. – Candice Wright scored 21 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter, to lead Vermont to a 54-49 win over Rider Friday night at Patrick Gym in the Catamounts home opener.
 
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COACH'S QUOTE
"Rider is a tough team and they challenged us for the entire 40 minutes," said head coach Alisa Kresge. "I'm really proud of the way our team responded when things got tough, tonight was a great team win."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Rider's Stella Johnson (23 points) capped-off a low scoring first quarter with a banked in three pointer at the buzzer to give the Broncos a 9-6 advantage after the opening frame.
• Vermont opened the second quarter on an 11-0 run, led by Jose Larkins (16 points) who had seven of the Catamounts 11 points. Heading into halftime the Cats held a 22-17 advantage.
• Lea Favre (7 points) and Lexi Posset (8 points) combined to score nine points as the Broncos outscored Vermont by five in the third quarter and the teams entered the final frame knotted at 33.
• Johnson scored nine points in the fourth quarter as the Broncs built a seven-point lead with 3:29 remaining.
• Over the next 2:57 of game action Wright scored 11 points including the game-winning layup with 32 seconds to go as Vermont opened the season at 1-0 for the first time since 2015.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Candice Wright's 14 rebounds were the most by a Catamount since Emilie Cloutier had 16 on December 14, 2014 against Wagner. It was Wright's second career double-double. She also had five blocks.
• In her regular season debut Rose Caverly played a team-high 37 minutes. She finished with seven points, five rebounds and six assists.
• The Catamounts shot 77.8% from the field in the fourth quarter (7-of-9).
• Coach Kresge is the first Vermont women's basketball coach to win their debut since Sharon Dawley in 2003.
• Vermont has won eight of its last 11 home openers, including two in a row. 
• With the victory, the Cats Win, Community Wins campaign and Vermont Mutual Insurance Group will donate another $100 to the Boys and Girls Club of Burlington, bringing this year's total to 96 wins and $9,600.

WHO'S NEXT
Vermont will host Dartmouth on Sunday (Nov. 11) at 3 p.m. Tickets are available for purchase at UVMathletics.com/Tickets or at the Patrick Gym Box Office on gameday. The game will be streamed live on AmericaEast.TV.
 
Team Nissan North is the presenting sponsor of the 2018-19 women's basketball season.