BURLINGTON, Vt. – Vermont earned a hard-fought 75-63 victory over UMBC in the Jersey Mike's America East Semifinals at Patrick Gym on Sunday afternoon. With the victory, the Catamounts garnered their 16th straight victory and improved to 24-6 overall. Vermont will host UAlbany in the Jersey Mike's America East Championship on Friday (Mar. 10) at 5 p.m. from Patrick Gym in a game that will be broadcast nationally on ESPNU. It is the first time UVM has hosted the America East title game since 2001.
 
RELATED LINKS
Box Score | Box Score (.pdf)
CatamounTV Highlights
ESPN+ Postgame Wrap
Photo Gallery
Postgame Press Conference: Coach Kresge | Richason | Utterback
 
COACH'S QUOTE
"The atmosphere in Patrick today was incredible," said Mayer Head Women's Basketball Coach Alisa Kresge. "Big thanks go out to our wonderful fans. We knew UMBC would be very tough to guard. I'm extremely proud of how we were able control the glass and limit their offensive rebounding in the 2nd half. We also took care of the basketball and limited turnovers, which was huge key to the game."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Vermont got off to a hot start jumping to an early 9-2 lead with 6:40 remaining in the first quarter. To start off, the Catamounts were 4-4 from the field led by five points from Delaney Richason and two each from Emma Utterback and Anna Olson.
• Catherine Gilwee then helped the Catamounts extend their run, scoring seven straight points of her own to extend the Vermont lead to 16-6 with 3:39 remaining in the first quarter. During the opening stretch of the game Vermont hit seven of its first eight shots.
• UMBC battled back with a 7-2 run of their own over the last 3:03 of the quarter to close the lead to 18-13 heading into the second quarter.
• Both teams played to a 15-15 draw in the second quarter going back-and-forth with Vermont taking a 33-28 lead into the halftime break.
• During the second quarter Vermont got contributions from all over led by five points from Utterback and four from Aryana Dizon, while Maria Myklebust, Bella Vito and Olson each added two. Keelah Dixon points (tied for a game-high 21) led the Retrievers with eight points during the quarter while K.K. White added six points of her own.
• UMBC started the second half a perfect 5-5 over the first 5:09 of the third quarter, but it was Vermont who held the advantage 13-10 forcing two turnovers and grabbing an offensive rebound to help their edge. After a Vito layup with 4:51 remaining Vermont took a 46-38 lead.
• The Retrievers rallied back outscoring Vermont 9-5 over the next four minutes to cut the Vermont lead to just 51-47 heading into the final stanza. UMBC was 3-5 from the field and 3-4 from the free throw line during the last stretch of the third.
• Scoop Smith scored a layup for UMBC on their first possession of the fourth quarter to cut the UVM lead to just 51-49, but that is the closest the Retrievers would ever get.
• Olson had the answer for Vermont though scoring on back-to-back possession to put Vermont up 55-49 with 8:45 remaining in the game.
• The Catamount defense locked in over the next eight minutes holding UMBC to nine points on just 4-12 shooting, while shooting 8-13 themselves. Olson and Utterback led the Catamounts with six points each and Richason added five for Vermont to take a commanding 70-58 lead with 45 seconds remaining in the game.
• Vito iced the game for UVM at the line going 1-2 with 13 seconds left before Laycee Drake made a layup to give the game its final score of 75-63.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Vermont led wire-to-wire throughout the game with the deciding factor of 12 matching their largest lead of the game. The Catamounts shot 54.2% (32-59) this afternoon and held UMBC to 47.2% (25-53).
• Gilwee finished with 11 points, four rebounds and four assists. With her two three-pointers made she moved into sole possession of second (70) in made three-point field goals for three point makes in a single season in program history.
• Utterback scored a tied game-high 21 points to go with six assists and three steals.
• Olson finished with 17 points on a very efficient 8-12 shooting to go with a tied for game-high eight rebounds.
• With the victory Vermont improved to 8-1 all-time in America East Semifinals at Patrick Gym. Friday evening against UAlbany will be the fifth time UVM will host the America East Championship game.
• With this afternoon'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. 

WHO'S NEXT
Following this afternoon's victory, the Catamounts will be hosting the Jersey Mike's America East Championship game on Friday March 10. Vermont will face the two-seed UAlbany. The start time for the game is scheduled for 5 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPNU. Ryan Zimmerman and Bernie Cieplicki will have the local radio call on WVMT.
 
WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP GAME FAN FEST
For the championship game, we are encouraging all fans to wear white. Friday's Jersey Mike's America East Championship game will feature a Fan Fest from 3:00-4:30 p.m. There will be inflatables, cheer, dance, pep band, snack making machines (cotton candy, mini donuts, snow cones, popcorn), face painting and dress up stations set up in the MAC Court located on the east side of the Patrick Gymnasium lobby.
 
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets for the GENERAL PUBLIC will be on sale Monday, March 6 at 1 p.m. Victory Club members should have received an email about requesting non-season tickets.
 
SEASON TICKET HOLDERS can purchase their regular season seats for the championship through their online ticket account, by calling the UVM Ticket Office at (802) 656-4410, or in person at the UVM Ticket Office during regular office hours of 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday. Season ticket holders can purchase their regular season seats for the championship game until Thursday, March 9 at 5 p.m.
 
STUDENTS
Please watch your UVM email for more information student tickets for the Jersey Mike's America East Championship game.   

CHAMPIONSHIP TICKET PRICES 
Courtside: $30 
Reserved: $20 
GA: $18 
GA – Youth 12 & Under: $10 
UVM Students: Free