WOMEN'S BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK
Vermont plays its final road game of the 2017-18 regular season at Hartford on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 17). UVM leads the season series 1-0, thanks to a 53-47 victory in Burlington on Jan. 21.
 
Saturday's game between the Catamounts and Hawks begins at 2 p.m. from Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion. Per a contract between the America East and ESPN, all conference games air online on ESPN3 and via the ESPN App.
 
As always, an audio broadcast is also available on CatamounTV.com and News/Talk 620 WVMT-AM. Pregame coverage for the Vermont-Hartford game with Logan Ratick starts at 1:40 p.m., with tip-off set for 2 p.m. from Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion in West Hartford, Connecticut.
 
RELATED LINKS
Video | Audio | Live Stats | Game Notes
 
TICKETS
Fans can purchase tickets for Vermont's final two home games against Maine (Feb. 22) and Stony Brook (Feb. 25) 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.
  
CATAMOUNTS RECAP
UVM has dropped back-to-back games to start the season's final road trip. The Catamounts' most recent loss came on Wednesday night, when Vermont lost 52-38 in Binghamton.
 
The Valentine's Day game at Binghamton is the only game this conference season in which UVM did not see a single player register double-figures in the scoring column. As a matter of fact, all 14 players on the Vermont roster saw at least three minutes of game time.
 
Hanna Crymble finished the game with eight points and seven rebounds for the Catamounts. She has only failed to register double-figures in scoring twice during conference play (both times against Binghamton).
 
Cassidy Derda added eight points and five rebounds for UVM. Meanwhile, freshman forward Carmen Handy recorded career-highs in rebounds (four) and minutes (seven).
 
The Bearcats were led by three players in double-figures scoring wise, as well as 11 blocked shots (including six rejections from Alyssa James). Binghamton held Vermont to a season-low 38 points.
 
As a unit, Vermont finished the contest at 24% from the field, 20% (5-25) from three-point territory and 83% (5-6) from the free throw line. UVM won the rebound battle by a 45-43 margin.
  
SCOUTING HARTFORD
Head coach Kim McNeil is in her second season as head coach of the Hawks and is the eighth head coach in program history. Last year, her team went 17-14, which was the program's winningest season since 2012-13. McNeil is married to, and has for children with, Cory McNeil, her associate head coach.
 
This season, Hartford is 14-12 overall, 8-4 at home and 6-7 to begin America East play.
 
Hartford features a balanced offensive attack. Four Hawks are currently averaging double-figures in the scoring column: Lindsey Abed (13 PPG), Janelle Harrison (12), Darby Lee (11.5) and Sierra DaCosta (10.7).
 
As a team, the Hawks lead the America East in turnover margin (7.15) and has the second-best field goal percentage defense (28.3%).
 
Hartford's Lindsey Abed is the top free throw shooter (89.9%) by percentage in the America East. UVM's Crymble ranks second in that category (89.5%), as well as tenth in the nation.
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
Vermont leads the all-time series 37-34. UVM has lost 12 straight meetings with Hartford before a 76-70 double overtime win in Burlington on Feb. 4, 2017. The first ever meeting resulted in a Catamounts' win at Patrick Gym in 1986.
 
This season, UVM won at home on Jan. 21 (53-47), despite committing 26 turnovers as a unit. Crymble scored 17 points in that game while Smith added 15.
  
HISTORY BEFORE OUR EYES
Candice Wright's five blocked shots against Rider on 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 136 blocked shots during her career through the last game at UMass Lowell.
   
DIALING FROM LONG DISTANCE
After making two three-pointers at UMass Lowell, Smith maintains her rank of fourth all-time in program history with 182 career makes from long distance. She surpassed her former teammate, Kayla Burchill '15 (170) with four three-pointers at UMBC on Jan. 6. Smith is closing in on third place, which is held by May Kotsopoulos '10 (187).
 
Additionally, White sits sixth all-time in program history in three-point field goals after she surpassed Ashleigh Cuncic '07 (143) on Jan. 31 against Binghamton. The redshirt-senior co-captain has now made 147 triples during her time in Burlington. 
 
As a team, Vermont is averaging six and a half three-point makes per game. Out of UVM's 1,391 field goal attempts through the first 26 games of the season, just under 43% have come from behind the three-point arc. Individually, the most proficient three-point shooting Catamounts have been Robertson (33%), Derda (32%) and White (31%).
  
NEXT UP
After the final road game of 2017-18, Vermont concludes the regular season with two games at home. UVM returns to Tom Brennan Court on Thursday (Feb. 22) to host Maine at 7 p.m.
 
As with every America East contest, a video broadcast can be accessed online for the Hartford game via ESPN3. 
 
Additionally, Logan Ratick handles the radio broadcast for Vermont's second-to-last home game of the season against Maine. Pregame coverage for the Catamounts' battle with the Black Bears on Thursday starts at 6:40 p.m., followed by the game at 7 p.m. on CatamounTV.com and News/Talk 620 WVMT-AM from Tom Brennan Court at Patrick Gymnasium in Burlington, Vermont.