BURLINGTON, VT – The Catamounts (2-3) used a dominant second half and a career-high 26 point effort from Anna Olson to cruise to a 60-37 victory over Army (1-4) at Patrick Gym on Monday night.
 
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COACH'S QUOTE
"Really proud of tonight and I think our players did a good job executing a gameplan," said Mayer Head Women's Basketball Coach Alisa Kresge. "I thought we did a nice job of taking care of the ball. That's been our best assist to turnover ratio yet this season, so to see us put together a defensive mindset while also taking care of the ball offensively against a really gritty team makes me extremely happy to see us taking strides in the right direction for our program."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Both teams started out slow with the first basket of the game not coming until Kamryn Hall scored for Army 7:38 left in the first quarter. Emma Utterback immediately answered at the other end with a layup of her own for Vermont.
• The two teams traded blows over the last 7:38 with the Catamounts outscoring the Black Knights 10-7 to give them a 12-9 lead at the end of the first stanza. Army would not regain the lead again for the rest of the game.
• Vermont continued their scoring in the second quarter starting with an Anna Olson turnaround jumper from the block. Delaney Richason knocked down the first three of the game for the Catamounts, on an Utterback assist, on the next possession to extend the lead to 17-9 and force a quick Army timeout with 7:37 remaining in the second quarter.
• The Black Knights battled back-and-forth with Vermont over the final seven minutes with both teams scoring 13 apiece to close out the first half with UVM leading 31-22. The Closest Army was able to draw was within two when they cut the lead to 20-18 on a Charlotte Richman three with four minutes remaining.
• Olson again had the answer for Army with a layup on the other end to start a 9-4 run to end the half, which was closed out by a Carla Celaya layup with 59 seconds remaining.
• Both teams struggled in the third quarter with UVM outscoring Army 8-6. Vermont shot just 2-11 from the field, but great defense held Army to only 15.4 percent (2-13). Olson again kept the Vermont the offense afloat scoring all eight points on four free throws and a pair of layups.
• The Catamounts saved their best for last starting the fourth quarter with their best run of the game, 11-0 over a course of five minutes, to push their lead to 48-31 with 4:26 remaining in the game. Olson scored four during the run while Utterback chipped in three and Aryana Dizon and Catherine Gilwee each added two.
• UVM and their bench took care of the final four minutes doubling up Army 12-6 to give the Catamounts their largest lead of the game (23) and its final score of 60-37.
• Vermont stymied the Black Knight offense in the second half holding them to single digits in both quarters and just 15 points overall.

 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Olson had her best night in the Green and Gold recording a career-high 26 points on 8-10 shooting from the free throw line and a very efficient 9-12 from the field. Olson also grabbed down six rebounds and had one block and one assist.
• Utterback recorded a game-high three steals to go along with eight points, three assists and two rebounds.
• First year Carla Celaya had a team-high seven rebounds to go along with six points and two steals. Celaya was 4-4 from the free throw line.
• Dizon had another productive game off the bench for the Catamounts registering four points and six rebounds with an assist.
• Vermont won the turnover battle 19-9.
• The Catamounts had their best game of the season at the free throw line shooting 81.3 percent (13-16) from the charity stripe.

 
UP NEXT
Following Monday's showdown with Army the Catamounts will host the annual TD Bank Classic at Patrick Gym on Saturday (Nov. 26) and Sunday (Nov. 27). The four team tournament field will include Vermont, Siena, Stonehill and Oakland. Vermont and Stonehill will square off in the first game of the tournament and Siena and Oakland match up in the second game on Saturday. The Catamounts and the Skyhawks are scheduled for a 12 p.m. tip. While the Golden Grizzlies and Saints are scheduled to start at 3 p.m. On Sunday, the two losing teams will compete at 12 p.m. for the consolation game and the two winners from Saturday's games will face off in the championship game at 3 p.m.