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BURLINGTON, Vt. – Sydney Smith scored a game-high 19 points and
Niki Taylor added her 11th career double-double with 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, but the UMass Lowell River Hawks were able to post a 72-64 victory over Vermont at Patrick Gymnasium in America East women's basketball action.
UMass Lowell improves to 13-15 overall and 7-9 in America East. Vermont falls to 5-22 on the year and 2-13 in league play.
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Photo Gallery Smith scored 17 of her 19 points in the second half and finished the day shooting 8-for-13 from the floor.
Kylie Butler added eight points, six rebounds and a career-high seven assists, while
Kayla Burchill added 16 points, including a 4-for-8 effort from beyond the arc.
Jasmine McRoy paced four River Hawks in double figures, leading the way with 15 points. Jontay Walton added 14 points off the bench and Shannon Samuels and Melissa Frase chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively.
A basket by Taylor at the 5:28 mark of the first half brought UVM within one, 24-23. The River Hawks responded with a 6-2 spurt and limited Vermont to one field goal over the final five minutes to take a 30-25 lead into the break.
Burchill opened the second stanza with a 3-pointer to bring UVM back within three, but UMass Lowell scored seven straight points to push out to a nine point lead with two minutes gone in the second half.
The River Hawks would extend their lead to 12 on a 3-pointer by Samuels with 14:57 remaining in the game. A pair of free throws by
Kaylea Britton cut the lead two seven with 11:15 left, but UMass Lowell used a 12-2 spurt, fueled by seven points from Lindsey Doucette, to open up a 17-point advantage on the Catamounts, 63-46, at the 4:33 mark.
Vermont mounted one last rally, rattling off 11 straight points, eight from Burchill, to close within six with 1:56 left. That would be as close as UVM could get the rest of the way.
UMass Lowell closed out the game going 8-for-8 from the foul line to secure the win.
The River Hawks shot 73.7 percent (14-for-19) from the stripe for the game and were 11-for-14 in the second half. UML also made eight 3-pointers to shoot 53.3 percent from beyond the arc and shot 48.1 percent from the field for the contest.
Vermont shot 43.1 percent from the floor and also made eight 3-pointers (36.4%) in the game.
The Catamounts close out the regular season on Sunday at Albany. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. at SEFCU Arena. The game can be heard on WVMT-620 AM (online:
SportsJuice.com) with Kevin Fitzgerald calling the action. The game can also be seen online for free via
AmericaEast.tv.
NOTES: Prior to the game UVM honored its senior class of
Kayla Burchill,
Emilie Cloutier,
Tierra Shumpert and
Niki Taylor.