WOMEN'S BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK
The Catamounts (7-3) are continuing the longest road trip in Mayer Head Women's Basketball Coach Alisa Kresge's time at the helm when they take on Duquesne (7-2) on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with the voice of Catamounts women's basketball Ryan Zimmerman calling on the radio on WVMT. Vermont is coming off a 68-48 victory over Saint Francis to extend their winning streak to six, a regular season record under Kresge.
 
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CATAMOUNTS NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Catamounts are leading the America East averaging 64.6 points per game on 44.5 percent shooting from the field and 39.9 percent from three point range with a scoring margin of +6.7.
The scoring margin is ranked 132nd in the country, while the field goal percentage is 63rd and first in the America East and their three point percentage leads the conference and is 8th in the country. The Catamounts have three of the top six scorers in the conference including America East second leading scorer Emma Utterback who is averaging 15.0 points per game.
 
CATHERINE GILWEE
Sophomore guard Catherine Gilwee is ranked third in the country in three pointers made with 34 and is placed 19th nationally in three pointers attempted. Her 47.89 percent shooting from deep is 33rd nationally, but only one of the players ahead of her has attempted as many or more three point shots than Gilwee. Gilwee is coming off an America East Player of the Week Award where she averaged 19.0 points 3.5 assists and 1.0 rebounds per game, knocked down a game winner with 1.2 seconds remaining on the road against Dartmouth, shot 75.0 percent from three, 83.3 percent from the free throw line and led the Catamounts to another perfect week, extending their win streak to five games. She continued her hot play against Saint Francis scoring 19 points on 6-10 from deep to help extend the streak to six games.
 
NET RANKINGS
The current NET rankings of the 2022-23 campaign were released with UVM pacing the America East as the top program coming in at 172 while Maine checked in at 212 followed by UAlbany at 244 with Binghamton at 282 and NJIT rounds out the top five in the America East coming in at 285.
 
CATS CONTINUE THEIR HOT STREAK
Vermont has won six consecutive games for the longest regular season streak ever under Mayer Head Women's Basketball Coach Alisa Kresge. During this current streak Vermont is defeating their opponents by a double-digit margin registering a scoring difference of 403-310 and averaging 67.2 ppg while allowing just 51.7 ppg and have forced 15.2 turnovers per contest. During their win streak the Catamounts are allowing teams to shoot just 35.3 percent from the field and only 29.7 from three and have defeated Army, Stonehill, Siena, Dartmouth, Marist and Saint Francis. Meanwhile UVM is shooting 46.9 percent from the field and 42.7 percent from deep. During the six game stretch Gilwee leads Vermont with 15.5 points and 3.0 assists per game on 53.4 percent shooting and 57.5 from deep. Utterback is chipping in 14.8 points and 4.0 assists on 44.0 percent shooting from the field.
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
This will be Vermont's first ever matchup with Duquesne; however, the Catamounts are familiar with the A-10 Conference. Overall, UVM is 19-40 against the A-10 having faced 202-23 preseason poll favorite UMass the most posting a 7-24 record against the Minutewomen.  Last season Vermont faced two A-10 teams going 1-1 defeating Loyola Chicago 72-62 at home and falling to UMass on the road.
 
SCOUTING THE DUKES
Duquesne enters this Saturday's matchup with a 7-2 record following a 73-67 victory over Kent State on Wednesday, December 7. The Dukes also have defeated Delaware, Marshall, Siena, Manhattan, Brown, and Point Park with losses to Pittsburgh and Tulsa. Duquesne was selected 10th overall in the A-10 preseason poll for the 2022-23 season. Duquesne is averaging 72.2 points per game on 42.0 percent shooting from the field and 34.1 percent from beyond the arc. On the defensive side of the ball, the Dukes are holding teams to 61.7 points per game on 35.1 percent from the field and 31.3 percent from deep with 7.7 steals and 3.4 blocks per contest. Duquesne is led by sophomore guard Tess Myers who is averaging 14.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. Junior forward Ayanna Townsend is second on the team in scoring at 12.8 points per game to go along with a team-high 1.0 blocks and 6.3 rebounds. Sophomore guard Megan McConnell has been on fire this season recording two triple doubles and leading the team in steals (3.2), assists (6.0) and rebounds (10.7) per game while also registering 11.1 points per game on 55.6 percent shooting from the field. 
 
WHAT'S UP NEXT
Following Saturday's matchup, the Catamounts will return to New England to face another Northeast Conference foe in Sacred Heart on the road on Sunday, December 18. The start time for that game is scheduled for 2 p.m. with voice of Catamounts women's basketball Ryan Zimmerman on the call on WVMT.