FINAL SCORE: Vermont 61, UMass Lowell 46
LOWELL, Mass. – Freshman Hanna Crymble led all scorers with 24 points and Vermont added a season-high 20 more from junior Sydney Smith en route to a 61-46 win over UMass Lowell at the Costello Athletic Center on Thursday night.
 
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Crymble's 10 rebounds locked in her third double-double of the season, while Candice Wright led the Green and Gold with three blocks.
 
UVM got off to a hot start after taking advantage of an early 3-second violation assessed against the River Hawks. Hayley Robertson drew a foul in the midst of draining a layup, and while the subsequent free throw would not go, Wright grabbed the offensive rebound and helped continue what would amount to a 6-0 run.
 
The River Hawks responded, however, stringing together nine unanswered points that culminated with Kayla Gibbs' successful conversion of an and-1 sequence. That opened the door to a back-and-forth end to the opening period at which the Catamounts trailed 14-10.
 
As the second quarter unfolded it was UMass Lowell that was out of the gate quickly. The River Hawks drained six of the the quarter's first nine points to work their way to a lead of seven. However, the Catamounts battled back and trailed just two at 27-25 heading into halftime as Smith drained 11 on 4-of-6 shooting.
 
Vermont forced nine River Hawk turnovers in the opening 20 minutes and turned that into 14 points.
 
The run of the night came in the third quarter as UVM held UMass Lowell without a field goal for nearly 11 minutes, overlapping into the fourth quarter. After Markayla Sherman hit from downtown with 7:24 left in the third, the Catamounts proceeded to net 19 straight points to battle back from a deficit and swell its lead to 46-35. The River Hawks finally ended the stretch with a pair from the charity stripe in the final minute.
 
Vermont extended the advantage to a game-high 17 at the 7:19 mark of the final frame, helped in part by Crymble's 12 points in the period.

Sherman and Gibbs each chipped in 13 points for UMass Lowell in the setback. Gibbs had a double-double of her own to counter Crymble's, pulling down 12 boards on the night.

With the win, UVM is now 5-13 and 2-4 in America East play, while UMass Lowell drops to 3-16 and 0-6 in conference. The Catamounts posted a 46.5 percent showing from the field on 20-for-43 shooting, while UMass Lowell was 19-for-54 from the field (35.2 percent).
 
UVM now has a full week to prepare for its next hardwood action, a Thursday, Jan. 26 contest at Albany which begins at noon.