WOMEN'S BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK
UVM returns to action on Wednesday on Tom Brennan Court at Patrick Gymnasium for a 7 p.m. tilt with Binghamton. It is the first meeting between the Catamounts and Bearcats this season. Binghamton is the only America East foe that Vermont has yet to face in conference play.
   
All America East games air online on ESPN3. Alastair Ingram and Jason Young have the call for the Binghamton-Vermont showdown from Patrick Gymnasium.
 
As always, an audio broadcast is also available on CatamounTV.com and News/Talk 620 WVMT-AM. Pregame coverage for the Binghamton game with Logan Ratick starts at 6:40 p.m., with tip-off set for 7 p.m.
 
RELATED LINKS
Video | Audio | Live Stats | Game Notes
 
TICKETS
Fans can purchase tickets for Vermont's back-to-back home games against Binghamton (Wednesday, Jan. 31) and versus UMBC (Saturday, February 3) by visiting UVMathletics.com/Tickets. Additionally, tickets can be acquired by calling the UVM Athletic Ticket Office at (802) 656-4410 or by visiting the office, located on the balcony of the Patrick Gymnasium Lobby. On game days, tickets can be purchased beginning one hour before tip-off in the Patrick Gymnasium Lobby.
 
RALLY AGAINST CANCER AND PACK THE HOUSE
Women's basketball's Rally Against Cancer and Pack The House Game is this Saturday (Feb. 2) at 2 p.m. against UMBC. For the annual Rally Against Cancer Game presented by Otter Creek Awnings and Vermont Custom Closets, fans are encouraged to wear pink in support of the efforts occurring at the University of Vermont Cancer Center.
 
Game-worn jerseys will be auctioned off at www.uvmathletics.com/auctions from Feb. 1-8, and all proceeds will be donated to the University of Vermont Cancer Center. Saturday is also the annual Pack The House Game as part of the national effort in which conferences compete to build attendance at women's basketball games.
 
CATAMOUNTS RECAP
Vermont came up short on a one-game roadtrip by dropping the first meeting of the season with Albany by a final score of 67-55. After winning 16 of the first 18 all-time meetings with the Great Danes, the Catamounts have now dropped 19 games in a row to their conference rival since 2011.
 
Hanna Crymble led the way for the Catamounts with her ninth game scoring 20 or more points this season. The two-time America East Player of the Week logged 24 points (7-11 FG, 9-10 FT), recorded eight rebounds and picked up two assists in the loss. Crymble has now reached double-figures in the scoring column in 18 of the 20 contests that she has played this season, including 17 straight games in double-figures. 
 
Sydney Smith and Kristina White added nine points each in at Albany. Meanwhile, the Great Danes featured three double-digit scorers. White also grabbed five rebounds. 
 
As a team, the Catamounts finished the contest at 39% from the field, 29% (5-17) from three-point territory and 61% (14-23) from the free throw line. 
  
SCOUTING BINGHAMTON
Head coach Linda Cimino is in her fourth season at the helm of the Bearcats after previously serving as the head coach at Caldwell University between 2006 and 2014. She has helped return Binghamton to a competitive program in the conference.
 
Cimino's Bearcats were picked to finish last in the America East in 2015-16 but finished in a three-way tie for third place. Last season, Binghamton went 13-17 (7-8) and lost in the America East Tournament Quarterfinals to Maine.
 
This season, Binghamton is 14-7 overall and 5-3 to begin America East play. The Bearcats are 7-3 at on the road this season and have won three straight games (at UMass Lowell, vs. UMBC, and at New Hampshire).
 
The Bearcats are tied for seventh in NCAA Division I with 134 blocked shots (6.4 blocks per game). That is due in large part to senior center, Alyssa James, who is second in the nation with 78 blocks (3.9 BPG). Meanwhile, senior guard Imani Watkins is tied for 10th in the NCAA in points per game (22.3).
 
Binghamton has the second best scoring offense in the America East (66.8 PPG) behind Albany. Vermont is seventh in that category with 59.9 PPG. The Bearcats are first in the conference in team rebounding (40.4 RPG) while the Catamounts rank third (38.2 RPG).
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
Vermont leads the all-time series 20-13. The Catamounts won the first seven meetings all-time (2002-04). However, Binghamton has won every matchup over the last two seasons. UVM has won one of the last six games against BU.
 
Last season, UVM lost both games to Binghamton: 64-55 in Burlington on Jan. 11, 2017 and by a score of 76-61 in Upstate New York on Feb. 6. Vermont's last win in the series came in Burlington on Feb. 7, 2015.
 
In last year's game against Binghamton in Burlington, Smith led the way for UVM with 13 points, four rebounds, two assists, two steals and a blocked shot. Hayley Robertson was in the starting lineup and led the team with eight rebounds in that game.  
 
HISTORY BEFORE OUR EYES
Candice Wright's five blocked shots against Rider on Friday, Dec. 1 placed her in sole possession for first all-time on Vermont's career blocks list. The junior broke Katie McNamara's '05 record of 102 blocked shots on her first rejection of the contest. Wright has 133 blocked shots during her career through the last game at Binghamton.
   
DIALING FROM LONG DISTANCE
Smith sits fourth all-time with 174 career makes from long distance. She surpassed her former teammate, Kayla Burchill '15 (170) with four three-pointers at UMBC on Jan. 6.
 
Additionally, White is now seventh all-time in program history in three-point field goals after she surpassed Dawn Cressman '03 earlier this month. The redshirt-senior co-captain has made 142 triples during her time in Burlington. 
 
As a team, Vermont is averaging just under seven three-point makes per game. Out of UVM's 1,087 field goal attempts through the first 20 games of the season, over 43% have come from behind the three-point arc. Individually, the most proficient three-point shooting Catamounts have been Crymble (37.9%), Robertson (37.5%) and White (32.7%).
  
NEXT UP
After Vermont plays Binghamton for the first time this season, UVM hosts UMBC at Patrick Gym on Saturday, February 3 at 2 p.m. As with every America East game, a video broadcast can be found online on ESPN3. Alastair Ingram and Bernie Cieplicki have the call.
 
Additionally, Logan Ratick handles the radio broadcast for Vermont's second meeting of the season with UMBC. Pregame coverage for the Catamounts' battle with the Retrievers starts at 1:40 p.m., followed by the game at 2 p.m. on CatamounTV.com and News/Talk 620 WVMT-AM.