WOMEN'S BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK
Vermont (21-6, 13-2 AE) looks to clinch at least a share of the America East regular season title when they host Bryant (9-19, 3-12 AE) in their annual Senior Day presented by the UVM Alumni Association on Saturday, February 25 at Patrick Gym. The start time for the game is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN3. Ryan Zimmerman, the voice of Catamounts women's basketball, will be on the radio call on WVMT (FM 96.3/AM 620).
 
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RECOGNIZING OUR SENIORS
Saturday's matchup with Bryant will be the Catamounts Senior Day presented by the Alumni Association. The women's basketball program will be celebrating Emma Utterback, Delaney Richason, Marissa McDonald and Carly Whiteside for their contributions on and off the court. The pregame ceremony for the four will begin at 4:15 p.m. Over their time in Catamount country these four seniors have made a tremendous impact in the growth and development of the program.
 
JERSEY AUCTION
The Catamounts wore special-edition lavender jerseys for their February 18 contest with NJIT. A live auction for the jerseys began at the 2 p.m. tip at https://uvmathletics.com/auctions/. Bidding starts at $125 with the proceeds going to the University of Vermont Cancer Center. The auction will close this Saturday at 2 p.m.
 
AMERICA EAST PLAY
The Catamounts have earned 13 straight victories, all coming in America East play, to currently sit tied in first place in the conference. Vermont got critical victories over UAlbany Saturday (Feb. 4) and Maine at Patrick Gym Wednesday (Feb. 8) and most recently clinched at least a top-two seed in America East with a 67-54 road victory over Binghamton (Feb. 18). During their 13-game winning streak Vermont is 6-0 at home and 7-0 on the road. Vermont boasts the best conference road record in America East. The Catamounts hold the longest winning streak in America East at 13 games. UAlbany who is also 13-2 in conference play and 19-10 overall come in tied with Vermont for the top seed in the conference. Maine rounds out the top three coming in at 10-5 in America East and 14-13 overall with one last home matchup against Binghamton to close out the season. Vermont is currently the only America East team with 20 or more wins on the season. 
 
AMONG THE LEADERS IN AMERICA EAST PLAY
The Catamounts are third in the conference in scoring at 62.1 per game and first in points allowed and scoring margin, giving up just 53.6 points per game with a plus 8.4 scoring margin. Vermont leads America East in team field goal percentage (43.7 percent) while also leading the conference in opponent field goal percentage (36.7 percent). UVM also ranks first in the conference in three point percentage converting 38.7 percent of their chances behind the arc, with the next closest team being UAlbany coming in at 33.2 percent. The Catamounts are also third in opponent three point percentage allowing just 27.4 percent of their opponents chances from behind the arc. Vermont averages the least turnovers in the conference with 13.4 per game and their 0.52 margin is second and one of only two teams that have a positive margin, while their assist to turnover ratio (1.04) is first. Emma Utterback is fourth in America East and leads the Catamounts with 13.7 points per game. Anna Olson is seventh in scoring at 11.9 per contest. Catherine Gilwee is 16th at 10.8 points per game and is also second draining 2.3 three pointers per game on 41.2 percent shooting which leads the conference. Olson leads the conference in field goal percentage at 51.9 percent and is fourth in free throw percentage at 75.0 percent this year. Utterback is 12th in field goal percentage at 41.6 percent from the field. Utterback is second in the conference in total assists (115), first in assists per game (4.3) and leads the conference in assist/turnover ratio (1.7).
 
WINNING STREAKS IN THE NCAA AND VERMONT
The Catamounts 13-game winning streak is tied for eighth in the NCAA as the longest in the country. #1 South Carolina has the longest winning streak in the nation at 34 games. In New England, only Boston University (16 games) has a longer winning streak than Vermont.
 
The longest winning streak in program history is 29 games. The 1991-92 Catamounts were undefeated in the regular season going 26-0 before winning the North Atlantic Conference to go 29-0. In the NAC Tournament, the Catamounts won their three games by an average margin of 28.6 points. The 1991-92 team was the first Vermont basketball team to make the NCAA Tournament. They fell 70-69 in the First Round against George Washington. This is Vermont's longest winning streak since they won 14 in a row in 2001-02. That season the Catamounts made it to the WNIT where they defeated Holy Cross (70-63) and St. Joseph's (60-55) before falling 76-48 to Virginia Tech in the Quarterfinals. 
 
NET RANKING
The current 2022-23 NET rankings were released on Thursday with Vermont coming in at 142. UAlbany followed the Catamounts at 194 while Maine rounded out the top three for America East coming in at 208. UMBC and Binghamton are the only other America East teams in the top 300 coming in at 278 and 281 respectively.
 
CATAMOUNTS ARE STREAKING
Vermont is riding a 13-game winning streak into Saturday's matchup and have improved to 13-2 in America East after starting out 0-2. During their streak, Vermont has been dominant on defense outscoring teams by 11.4 a game and holding them to just 50.8 points per game on 36.1 percent shooting and only 25.8 percent from three. The Catamounts also have a +1.8 turnover margin forcing 14.2 turnovers per contest, while only committing 12.4 themselves. On offense, Vermont is scoring 62.2 points during these 13 games while shooting 44.4 percent from the floor and 38.7 percent from three point range. Delaney Richason has stepped up her game averaging 12.2 points on 48.3 percent shooting from three, while Utterback leads the Catamounts averaging 13.5 points, 3.9 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game on 43.8 percent shooting from the floor and 45.5 percent from three. Olson is scoring 12.4 points per game and grabbing a team-high 5.9 rebounds on 56.0 percent shooting per game during the Catamounts winning streak. The 13-game winning streak is the longest winning streak for the Catamounts since the 2002 season when they won 14 in a row.
 
CONSISTENT CATAMOUNTS
Vermont holds the longest consecutive streak of the same starting five in the nation for women's basketball. The Catamounts have gone with the combination of Vito, Richason, Utterback, Olson and Gilwee through all 27 games this season. The University of Oklahoma is the only other team in the country to have the same starting five in every game this season, at 26 games. Utterback, Gilwee, Olson and Richason are all in the top 20 in the conference in minutes played with Utterback coming in at third (34.9) and Gilwee fifth (34.1).
 
CATAMOUNTS AMONG THE NATION'S BEST
The Catamounts are holding to teams to 36.7 percent shooting from the field which is ranked 34th in the country and just 27.4 percent from behind the arc which is 28th nationally. The Catamounts are giving up just 53.6 points per game which is 10th in the nation. 10 times this year Vermont has held their opponents to under 50 points and six times have kept their opponents from scoring 40 points. 20 out of the 27 opponents UVM has faced have failed to reach 60 points against the Catamounts. Vermont is also 20th in the country in fouls per game with just 13.7 a game. The Catamounts are knocking down 38.7 percent of their three point attempts which is fifth in the country. Vermont's .778 winning percentage is tied for 36th in the nation. Gilwee is tied for 26th in the country at 41.18 percent shooting from three point range while her 63 makes is tied for 76th in the nation. Olson's 51.9 percent shooting is 51st in the nation. Utterback's 4.3 assists per game is 84th nationally and her 115 total assists on the season has her tied for 78th in the country.
 
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
The Bulldogs enter this Saturday's matchup with 9-19 overall record and are 3-12 in America East. In conference play, Bryant has defeated UNH, UMass Lowell, and NJIT. They fell to Vermont in their first matchup this season and were swept by UAlbany, Maine, Binghamton, and UMBC. Bryant enters this matchup averaging 62.8 points per game on 39.0 percent shooting from the field and 32.5 from behind the arc, while hitting 72.7 percent of their free throws. Defensively, the Bulldogs are giving up 63.9 points per game on 40.2 percent shooting and allowing 32.8 percent from three point range while averaging 8.1 steals per game and 3.4 blocks per game. Junior center Mariona Planes Fortuny leads the team and is second in America East in scoring with 15.7 points per game on an efficient 47.0 percent shooting from the field to go along with 6.2 rebounds per game. Her shooting percentage is seventh in the conference while her rebounds per game is sixth. Senior guard Nicole Gallagher is second on the team averaging 10.6 points per game with a team high 6.7 rebounds to go along with 1.3 steals. Redshirt sophomore Kemari Reynolds is leading Bryant with 3.2 assists per game to go with 7.1 points and 2.9 boards per contest. The Bulldogs were selected at seventh overall in the America East Preseason Poll, receiving 21 total points with zero first place votes.
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
This will be second matchup against Bryant this season, and ninth matchup all-time between the two teams with the series tied 4-4. This will be the second matchup as America East opponents. The Bulldogs hold the longest winning streak at four straight from 2013-2016. However, the Catamounts have responded by winning the last three matchups. In those three games Vermont is averaging 66.7 points per game and have won by an average margin of victory of 7.4 points. Vermont defeated Bryant in Smithfield 68-67 in OT on January 4, 2023. Olson delivered her third career double-double grabbing a career-high 15 rebounds to go along with 20 points and 4 blocks. Olson was knocked down a career-high in free throws going 10-13 from the charity stripe. Utterback finished that game with 20 points and three steals on 9-19 shooting. Gilwee played a career-high 43 minutes scoring 10 points and dishing out three assists in the overtime victory. In her three career matchups with Bryant Utterback is averaging 13.7 points on 61.8 percent shooting from the floor in 36 minutes of action to go with 1.3 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.3 steals per contest.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Following Saturday's matchup with the Bulldogs the Catamounts will host the America East Quarterfinal game at Patrick Gym on Wednesday, March 1. The start time for the game is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET and will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Ryan Zimmerman will be on the radio call on WVMT (FM 96.3/AM 620). Vermont's matchup will be determined when America East announces the official tournament bracket at the conclusion of the regular season on Saturday, February 25.
 
QUARTERFINAL TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets for the general public will be on sale Monday, February 27 at 1 p.m. ET. Season ticket holders can purchase their regular season seats for the quarterfinal through their online ticket account. For more information, including victory club members, student information and ticket prices, click here.