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BANGOR, Maine - The Vermont women's basketball team travels to Maine for an America East game on Thursday. Tipoff at the Cross Insurance Center is set for 5:30 p.m. Kevin Fitzgerald will have the call on WVMT-620 AM (online: SportsJuice.com). The game will also be streamed for free via AmericaEast.tv.
The Catamounts stand at 3-14 overall and are 0-5 in America East. UVM is coming off a 68-61 loss to UMBC on Saturday. Six of Vermont's 14 losses have been by 8 or less points this season. Maine enters the contest having won four straight and owns a 12-6 mark overall and is 4-1 in league play. The Black Bears posted a 70-48 victory over Binghamton Monday.
RELATED LINKS
Game Coverage - Live Stats | Live Audio | Live Video
Game Notes (.pdf)
CatamounTV Highlights - UMBC
LAST TIME OUT - UMBC 68, Vermont 61
Sydney Smith and Niki Taylor scored 14 points each for Vermont, but UMBC used a strong second half to post a 68-61 win at Patrick Gymnasium on Saturday ... Taylor scored 12 of her 14 points in the second half and added eight rebounds ... Smith grabbed seven rebounds and Kylie Butler chipped in 10 points and five boards ... UMBC trailed 30-22 with 3:17 left in the first half, but closed the stanza with a 10-2 spurt to tie the game up at 32 at the break ... UVM, which shot 43.3 percent from the field in the first half, was limited to 26.1 percent in the second half ... Vermont led 43-38 with 12:23 left in the game, but UMBC used a 12-1 run to push out in front by six ... A pair of free throws by Emilie Cloutier tied the game up at 50 with just over five minutes left, but the Retrievers used another scoring spurt, 10-3, to extend their lead to seven with 2:01 showing on the clock ... UVM was held to one field goal over the final two minutes as UMBC held off the Catamounts for the win.
ABOUT MAINE
Maine is 12-6 overall, 4-1 in America East and has won four straight ... The Black Bears are coming off a 70-48 win over Binghamton on Monday ... Sigi Koizar leads the team in scoring (15.3 ppg) and is grabbing 4.3 rebounds per game ... She also has 33 steals and 44 assists on the year ... Liz Wood is chipping in 13 points, a team-high 7.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 3.0 steals per game ... She recently posted Maine's first-ever triple-double with 11 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists against UMass Lowell ... As a team, Maine is averaging 59.1 points per game, while giving up 55.4 points to opponents ... The Black Bears own the top scoring defense in the league (55.4 ppg) and are the lowest scoring team in the conference (59.1 ppg) ... The Black Bears are shooting 41.9 percent from the floor, 30.3 percent from 3-point range and 68.9 percent from the foul line ... Maine is being out rebounded 30.8 to 34.6 on the year.
THE SERIES
Thursday marks the 78th meeting between the two teams ... Maine is Vermont's longest standing rival ... The two teams have met every season since 1975-76 ... The Black Bears own a 47-30 lead in the series ... Vermont had won 12 in a row, but Maine has won five of the last eight meetings, including three straight, including a sweep last year in the regular season.
MILESTONE METER
Senior Niki Taylor is 10 points shy of the 1,000-point milestone and four rebounds away from 700 for her career ... Taylor will be the 7th player in program history with 1000 points and 700 rebounds ... She is nearly averaging a double-double with 9.5 points and 8.7 rebounds per game for the Catamounts ... She became the 15th Catamount to reach the 600 rebound mark with nine at No. 21 Syracuse ... She ranks among the active leaders in America East in scoring (2nd - 990 career pts) and steals (5th - 107 career) ... Taylor ranks first among active leaders in rebounding in the league (696 career) and ranks second in the league in rebounding (8.7 rpg) and leads the conference in offensive rebounds (4.4 pg).
BUTLER DOES IT
Sophomore Kylie Butler, an America East All-Rookie pick last season, has reached double figures in 11 of the 17 games this season ... Butler ranks second on the team in scoring (10.7 ppg) and is grabbing 6.7 rebounds per game (10th in America East).
WHO'S NEXT
Vermont continues on the road, traveling to Lowell, Massachusetts to take on the UMass Lowell Riverhawks on Sunday (Jan. 25). The game at the Tsongas Center is set to begin at 4:30 p.m. The game can be heard on WVMT-620 AM (online: SportsJuice.com) and can also be seen on ESPN3.com.
