BURLINGTON, VT – The Catamounts knocked down over 50 percent of their shots from the field on their way to a dominant 81-60 victory over Marist on Sunday afternoon at Patrick Gym. With the victory Vermont (6-3) has now won five straight games, tied for the longest in the Mayer Head Women's Basketball Coach Alisa Kresge's era. Marist falls to 3-5 on the season with the loss.
 
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Box Score | Box Score (.pdf)
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COACH'S QUOTE
"It was great playing in Patrick in front of our amazing fans," said Mayer Head Women's Basketball Coach Alisa Kresge. "Today was a complete team win. I am most proud of how we came ready to play from the tip and how we shared the ball. We need to build off of this game as head on the road for the next five games."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• It was Marist who got the scoring started taking a 2-0 lead on their first possession of the game. Emma Utterback answered at the other end with a jump shot before the Red Foxes quickly answered with a jumper of their own to take a 4-2 lead. On the next possession Catherine Gilwee knocked down a three on an assist from Utterback to give the Catamounts a 5-4 lead with 7:58 remaining in the first stanza, a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the game.
• The three from Gilwee sparked a quick 8-0 run that forced a Marist timeout and put Vermont up 10-4 with 7:06 remaining. Utterback scored or assisted on the first 10 points of the game for the Catamounts.
• After the timeout the Red Foxes regrouped, and the two teams battled back-and-forth for the rest of the quarter with UVM edging Marist 19-16 thanks to a three pointer from Delaney Richason with four seconds remaining in the quarter that put Vermont up 26-20 at the end of the quarter.
• Vermont started to pull away in the second quarter doubling up Marist 16-8 over the first seven minutes of the quarter to pull to a 42-28 lead with 3:11 remaining in the half. First year Paula Gonzalez knocked down two threes in a career day which saw her finish with nine points, while Gilwee also drilled a pair of threes in that spurt.
• Marist knocked down 3-4 free throws and converted a layup in the final three minutes to outscore Vermont 5-2 and trim the halftime deficit to 44-33.
• Over the first three minutes of the second half Marist did their best to cut into the lead getting it to as close as 46-39 with 7:16 remaining following a pair of free throws from Kendall Krick.
• Gilwee again had the answer for UVM drilling a three on the very next possession on an assist from Utterback to push their lead back to double digits, 49-39 with 6:50 remaining in the third quarter. After the three pointer it was Anna Olson who took over down the stretch for Vermont scoring seven points (as many as Marist as a team) and converting 3-4 from the charity stripe and a pair of layups to help push Vermont to a 60-48 lead heading into the final stanza.
• Again, the Catamounts continued to push the issue in the fourth quarter with Richason knocking down another three on an assist from Gilwee on their first possession of the fourth to push their lead to 63-48.
• Over the course of the first eight and a half minutes of the fourth quarter the Catamounts strung together a dominant 21-8 run to balloon their lead to the largest of the night to 25 at 81-56. Vermont remained hot from three point range with Gilwee knocking down two and Richason making one, while Aryana Dizon contributed six points as a force down low.
• The Red Foxes scored four unanswered to finish the game on two Zaria Shazer free throws and a layup, to give the game its final score, 81-60.
   

INISDE THE BOX SCORE

• Gilwee registered a career-high 20 points, knocking down 6-7 from beyond the arc.
• Richason recorded 10 points, two rebounds and a career-high six assists.
• Anna Olson finished with 16 points, going 8-10 from the free throw line while collecting seven rebounds and two steals.
• Utterback was the only other Catamount in double figures finishing with 11 points and five assists.
• Gonzalez finished with a career-high nine points drilling 3-4 threes.
• As a team Vermont shot 13-24 from deep (54.2%) and 30-53 from the field (56.6%).
• With each three made at Patrick Gym M&T Bank donates $25 to the Vermont Food Bank and with today's performance the total to be donated will be $325.
• With today's win, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group will donate $100 to COTS, the Committee on Temporary Shelter, as part of the Cats Win, Community Wins initiative. Since the campaigns inauguration in 2017, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group has donated over $72,000 to local non-profits.

 
WHO'S NEXT
Following today's matchup with Marist the Catamounts will begin a five game road trip starting in Pennsylvania against Saint Francis on Thursday, December 8. The start time for that game is scheduled for 5 p.m. with Ryan Zimmerman on the call on WVMT radio. Vermont will have a two-game stint in Pennsylvania taking on Duquesne on Saturday, December 10. That game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with Ryan Zimmerman on the call on WVMT radio with the start time scheduled for 1 p.m.