WOMEN'S BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK
Vermont women's basketball opens the 2021-22 regular season on the first day of the college basketball season tomorrow as they host Merrimack at 6 p.m. Tickets are available for purchase at UVMathletics.com/Tickets or by visiting the Patrick Gym box office on gameday. Masks are required indoors at the University of Vermont. Fans are encouraged to read the Winter 2021 Fan & Visitor Policy before attending.
 
TELEVISION AND RADIO COVERAGE
Tuesday's meeting between the Catamounts and Warriors will broadcast live on ESPN+ with Rob Ryan and Bernie Cieplicki on the call. Fans can also listen live on the Vermont Sports Network, from Learfield IMG College on WVMT. Fans can also listen online at Catamounts All-Access with the new voice of the Catamounts Cooper Boardman on the call.  
 
RELATED LINKS
Watch | Listen | Live Stats | Tickets | Winter 2021 Fan & Visitor Policy
 
HOME OPENERS                                                                                                                               
Vermont is 30-12 all-time in home openers. Last season the Catamounts fell 66-50 to UMass Lowell in their home opener on December 19. Over the last ten years UVM is 7-3 in their first game at Patrick Gym. Under Mayer Head Basketball Coach Alisa Kresge the Catamounts are 3-1 in their home debut. Mayer Head Basketball Head Coach Alisa Kresge won her first game as a head coach at UVM in a home season opener when the Catamounts defeated Rider 54-49 on November 9, 2018.

AMERICA EAST PRESEASON POLL
The Catamounts were selected fourth in the 2021-22 America East Preseason Poll. Voting was conducted by the conference's women's basketball coaches, who were not allowed to vote for their own team. Stony Brook, the defending tournament champion, was picked to finish first, placing just four points ahead of second place Maine. The Black Bears were selected as league favorites in each of the last three seasons. Vermont and UMass Lowell were selected to round-out the coveted top-four positions. This year will be the third full season on the women's side where the entire America East tournament will take place on campus sites with the higher-seeded school hosting each game throughout the championship.
 
OLSON NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
After earning Rookie of the Year, All Conference Third-Team and All-Rookie Team honors last season Olson was selected to the Preseason All-Conference Team this fall. She led the Catamounts last season with 13.3 points-per game and 6.8 rebounds-per game. She also averaged two assists a game. She helped lead Vermont to its best America East start through six games since the 2009-10 campaign.
 
RETURNING DEPTH FOR THE CATAMOUNTS
UVM returns 96.2% of its scoring from a season ago. All six Catamounts who started a game last season are back in the fold. UVM ended the season last year on a three-game win streak in league play, the third such instance in Mayer Women's Basketball Coach Alisa Kresge's career.
 
SCOUTING THE WARRIORS
Merrimack was 5-10 during the COVID-19 shortened 2020-21 campaign. They played exclusively against NEC competition. On the road last season Merrimack was 2-5 but their two wins came against Sacred Heart in their final games of the season March 4 and 5.
 
This season will be Head Coach Kelly Morrone's first full season at the helm of the Warriors program. Prior to her time at Merrimack Morrone guided the John Carroll Blue Streaks to 117 wins over the last seven years, earning three NCAA Division III Tournament berths, the first three appearances in school history. 
 
Merrimack was picked eighth in the 2021-22 Northeast Conference Preseason Poll. They return graduate forward Mayson Kimball this season. She was selected as an All-NEC second team selection in 2020 and last year led the team in scoring with 13.4 points-per game.
 
SERIES HISTORY WITH MERRIMACK
Tomorrow night will mark Vermont's second-ever meeting with the Merrimack Warriors. It is Merrimack's third-season transitioning to be a full-time Division I program in the NEC. Vermont has competed annually with the Warriors in men's and women's hockey as Merrimack is a Hockey East team. Merrimack defeated Vermont 78-53 in the teams' first meeting on December 29, 2019.

Rise to the Top is the presenting sponsor of Vermont women's basketball