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BURLINGTON, Vt. – Sydney Smith scored a team-high 22 points and
Kylie Butler added her second double-double in three games with 15 points and 10 rebounds, but the Cornell Big Red erased a 14-point deficit and came back to post a 90-87 victory in double-overtime at Vermont in non-conference women's basketball action at Patrick Gymnasium on Tuesday. Cornell improved to 7-5 overall while Vermont fell to 3-9 on the season.
With 4:27 left in regulation, Butler drained a 3-pointer to give Vermont a 67-53 lead. The Big Red used a full court press over the final four minutes and put together a 14-0 run to climb all the way back and force overtime.
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CatamounTV HighlightsKerri Moran converted the game-tying layup with 40 seconds remaining in the second half. Vermont had the ball with 11 seconds remaining, but could not get a shot off.
A layup by Butler at the 2:27 mark of the first overtime gave UVM a four-point lead, but Cornell's Nia Marshall converted a three-point play with 1:47 left to tie the game up at 75.
Kayla Burchill responded with a 3-pointer and
Niki Taylor made one of two free throws to push Vermont's lead to four with 24 seconds left. Moran scored with 16 seconds remaining to slice the lead to two and Butler made one of two free throws on the next possession to give the Catamounts an 80-77 lead. Marshall banked in a 3-pointer with three seconds left to tie the game up at 80 and force the second extra session.
Nicholle Aston's basket at the 2:00 mark of the second overtime gave Cornell an 87-85 lead. Smith answered with a layup for Vermont to tie the game up at 87, but Marshall scored with 28 seconds left and Moran made one of two free throws to give the Big Red a three point lead with 12 seconds remaining. Burchill's 3-pointer at the buzzer missed the mark and Cornell earned its fourth win in five games.
Vermont led 18-17 with 6:50 remaining in the first half and went on to out scored Cornell 20-10 over the final six minutes to take a 38-27 lead into halftime. Senior
Tierra Shumpert capped the stanza by sinking a halfcourt shot at the buzzer.
Marshall finished led all scorers with 36 points and added 11 rebounds to pace Cornell. Aston added 18 points and 12 rebounds and Moran contributed 13 points and six boards.
Vermont opens the America East portion of its schedule on Saturday (Jan. 3) when it hosts Hartford at 2 p.m. at Patrick Gymnasium. Tickets can be purchased online at UVMathletics.com or in person starting at 1 p.m. in the Patrick Gymnasium Lobby.
The game can be heard on WVMT-620 AM (online:
SportsJuice.com) with Kevin Fitzgerald calling the action. The game will also be streamed online for free in HD via
CatamounTV.com.
NOTES: This was Vermont's third overtime game of the year … UVM's last double-overtime contest was on March 15, 2008, a 76-74 loss to Boston University in the America East Semifinals … Vermont opened the 2014 calendar year playing Cornell in Ithaca, New York last season and closed 2014 against the Big Red tonight.