WOMEN'S BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK
Vermont (7-7, 1-2) returns home for its second conference home game of the season as they host UMBC (1-10, 0-1) at Patrick Gym. Action is slated to begin at 1 p.m. on ESPN3. Fans can also listen live with Cooper Boardman on the call on AM 620 WVMT.
RELATED LINKS
Listen Live | Live Stats | Live Video | Tickets
FOUR STARTERS IN DOUBLE FIGURES
Vermont's four starters who have started every game this season –
Emma Utterback (11.0 PPG),
Josie Larkins (12.4 PPG),
Delaney Richason (10.1 PPG) and
Anna Olson (12.1 PPG) are leading the Catamounts all scoring in double figures. All four of them play an average of 29.5 minutes or more per game.
LARKINS LEADING AND HITTING MILESTONES
Graduate guard
Josie Larkins, who leads the Catamounts in scoring with 12.4 points per game, is making her mark in the record book this winter. She also needs just four points to reach 1,000 in her Catamount career. She would be the 23rd player in program history to reach 1,000 points and the first to do so since
Hanna Crymble '20 in 2018.
Larkins is 29th in the NCAA currently shooting a career-best 43.0% from behind the arc. She's made 40 three-pointers this year which is tied for 24th in the NCAA. She is second all-time at UVM in made three-pointers with 200.
ALL STARTS ON THE DEFENSIVE END
UVM is second in America East on the defensive end this season giving up 57.1 points per game. In the Catamounts seven wins this year they've given up just 49.1 points per game. Vermont is also third in America East averaging 3.2 blocked shots per game. UVM forward
Anna Olson is second in the league averaging 1.2 blocks per game.
LIMITING OPPONENTS TRIPS TO THE LINE
The Catamounts are averaging just 14.1 fouls-per game this season which is the 30th fewest in the NCAA. As a team in 14 games they have committed just 197 personal fouls. UVM committed a season-low eight fouls at Navy on November 20.
SCOUTING UMBC
After a 25-day layoff, the Retrievers returned to action on Wednesday falling 72-58 at home to first place NJIT. UMBC has lost 10 straight games after winning its season opener. The Retrievers have been outscored by an average of 10.3 points in their 11 games this season.
Graduate forward Janee'a Summers is the only UMBC player averaging double figures in scoring. She has a team-leading 14.2 points per game. On Wednesday against NJIT she scored a team-high 21 points. In eight career games against the Catamounts she's averaging 10.6 points. She scored a season-high 20 points against UVM at UAlbany in a neutral site game on January 4, 2021 in what was the Retrievers final game of the season.
SERIES HISTORY
Vermont has won five of the last six meetings in the series and now leads the all-time series 20-19. Last season the Catamounts swept UMBC in a two-game series played at UAlbany Jan. 3-4, 2021. Vermont won those games by scores of 73-56 and 65-54. Those two games were UVM and UMBC's final games before discontinuing their seasons due to COVID-19.
RALLY AROUND MENTAL HEALTH GAME WEDNESDAY
Don't miss this Wednesday's Rally Around Mental Health Game presented by Inspired Closets as we host NJIT at 6 p.m. Donations to directly support UVM student-athlete mental health can be made here -
https://securelb.imodules.com/s/1690/19/interior.aspx?sid=1690&gid=2&pgid=1457&cid=2905.
Rise to the Top is the presenting sponsor of Vermont women's basketball
