BURLINGTON, VT – Anna Olson had a game-high 19 points Saturday as the Catamounts defeated first place UAlbany 53-49 in front of a crowd of 1,286 fans at Patrick Gym to extend their winning streak to eight games, the longest since 2008. With the victory, the Catamounts moved to 16-6 on the season and 8-2 in conference play, while the Great Danes fell to 15-10 overall and suffered just their second loss in America East play to sit at 9-2.
 
RELATED LINKS
Box Score | Box Score (.pdf)
CatamounTV Highlights
 
COACH'S QUOTE
"First and foremost, thank you to our amazing fans for supporting National Girls and Women in Sports Day #NGWSD," said Mayer Head Women's Basketball Coach Alisa Kresge. "Today was a battle for 40 minutes against a very good UAlbany team. We showed grit and toughness all four quarters. I am proud of how our defense turned into offense."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Delaney Richason started off the scoring for the Catamounts drilling one of her four threes in the game on their opening possession to put UVM up 3-0 just 13 seconds into the game. Her opening three sparked an early 14-4 start for Vermont that was capped off by another Richason three with 4:51 remaining in the first quarter. The early hot start proved to be crucial for Vermont as UAlbany was never able to gain their footing. The Great Danes largest lead was one point, coming in the early moments of the third quarter.
• UAlbany battled back across the rest of the first quarter and into the early second quarter with a 10-2 run of their own to cut the UVM lead to just 16-14 early in the second. Kayla Cooper capped the run at the start of the second quarter for the Great Danes converting both free throws with 9:14 remaining. Cooper scored three of her team-high 18 points on the run and Helene Haegerstrand added three points as well, while Ellen Hahne and Fatima Lee each scored two.
• The two teams battled over the next five minutes of the first half with Vermont holding a 9-6 edge led by four from Anna Olson and another big three from Richason. An Olson layup assisted by Utterback (game-high seven assists) with 4:10 remaining put the Catamounts back up five, 25-20.
• Both teams went scoreless for nearly the next two minutes until a Haegerstrand layup for the Great Danes with 2:23 left cut the UVM lead to 25-22. The layup helped spark a 6-2 run over the final two plus minutes of the first half for UAlbany as they cut the halftime deficit to just one, 27-26. Haegerstrand scored four on the run while Cooper added two of her own.
• It looked as though UAlbany had solved the Catamount defense and were poised to make run taking an early second half lead on their second possession, following multiple offensive rebounds, from a Cooper layup with 9:13 remaining. The layup from Cooper put the Great Danes up 28-27, but it was a short lived 14-second lead.
• Olson answered immediately with a layup of her own on the other end to give the Catamounts back a 29-28 advantage, a lead they would never relinquish over the final 18:59 of the game.
• The Catamounts defense played a major factor in the third quarter allowing just eight total points. The layup from Olson started an 11-2 run for Vermont that spanned the next 6:46 of the third quarter to take a 38-30 lead with 2:27 remaining.
• The Great Danes would not go away as they battled back with a quick 4-0 spurt of their own to close the gap to 38-34 heading into the final stanza.
• Catherine Gilwee had the answer for the Catamounts in the fourth quarter scoring five of their first six points in a quick 6-2 spurt over the first 2:43 of the final quarter to help extend their lead to 44-36. Gilwee had five points and Olson hit 1-of-2 free throws during the run that propelled the fourth quarter Vermont lead.
• UAlbany battled back outscoring Vermont 9-8 over the next 5:42 of the game to cut the lead to 52-45. However, it was Olson who took over down the stretch for the Catamounts scoring six of their eight points during that UAlbany run and helping Vermont hold onto a five point lead with 1:35 remaining in the game.
• The Great Danes would not go away easy, giving Catamount Country a scare with back-to-back layups from Cooper and Morgan Haney to cut the deficit to just 52-49 with 31 seconds remaining.
• Gilwee was sent to the line with 27 seconds left where she missed both shots to give UAlbany an opportunity back into the game. However, following stifling defense from the Catamounts, Gilwee came up with the defensive rebound, was fouled, and converted both her free throws on the other end to put Vermont up 53-49 with 18 seconds left in the game.
• The Catamounts held strong on the defensive end, with Richason blocking the final shot attempt of the game from deep by Grace Heeps, right before the buzzer, to help secure a 53-49 win for UVM.

 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Olson led all scorers with 19 points on an efficient 8-15 shooting while grabbing down six boards and blocking one shot.
• Richason finished with 14 points on 4-6 three point shooting while also snagging three steals and recording a game-high three blocks.
• Utterback finished with 10 points, a game-high seven assists and grabbed down three rebounds.
• Bella Vito finished with a game-high and career-high five steals to go with four points, four rebounds and two assists.
• Vermont outscored UAlbany 24-20 in the paint, 8-3 at the free throw line and 15-12 behind the arc. UVM shot 31.3% (5-16) from three while holding the Great Danes to just 23.5% (4-17).
• With today's win, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group will donate $100 to King Street Youth Center as part of the Cats Win, Community Wins initiative. Since its inauguration in 2017, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group has donated over $80,000 to local non-profits through the Cats Win, Community Wins initiative.  
• With five three pointers made by Vermont, M&T Bank will be donating $125 to the Vermont Foodbank. With a community bank approach, M&T Bank helps people reach their personal and business goals with banking, mortgage, loan and investment services.
• Saturday was Vermont's National Girls and Women in Sports Day celebration presented by Vermont Mutual Insurance. Girls between fourth and eighth grade filled several game day roles including ticket takers, camera operators, PA announcers and more as a part of our celebration of girls and women working and participating in sport.

 
WHAT'S NEXT
Following Saturday's matchup with the Great Danes, Vermont will host another important America East game at Patrick Gym in a meeting with Maine on Wednesday, February 8. The start time for the game is scheduled for 6 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Ryan Zimmerman, the voice of Catamounts women's basketball, will be on the call on radio on WVMT. 
 
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