WOMEN'S BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK
Vermont (10-14, 6-6) returns home after its three-game road trip to host Hartford (16-9, 9-2) at 2 p.m. Saturday. The matchup can be heard on AM 620 WVMT with Maura Sheridan on the call. All of the action can be seen on
ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app by logging in with your television provider.
Saturday is Military Appreciation Presented by Milton CAT, FREE tickets are available for all military personnel and their families (purchase at the ticket office with military ID).
Saturday is also Vermont's Spread Respect game. America East and UVM urges you to spread respect by insuring equality and safety for all coaches, student, and fans without regard to race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity. The team will be wearing special Spread Respect Shooting shirts, and there will be a table in the lobby for more information and to hear from our student-athletes on how they Spread Respect.
RELATED LINKS
Live Video (ESPN3) | Live Stats | Tickets
FIRST YEAR SUCCESS WITH COACH KRESGE
With one more win the Catamounts will have their first 11-win season and first with seven conference wins since the 2009-10 campaign. With 10 wins Coach Kresge is enjoying the best debut season for a new head coach at Vermont since Sharon Dawley won 14 games in 2003-04.
LARKINS AND WRIGHT KEY TO CONFERENCE WINS
In Vermont's six conference wins this season
Josie Larkins and
Candice Wright have combined to score 24.5 points per game. In the six conference losses they have averaged just 15.4 points per game. UVM has held its opponents to 48.7 points per game in the six wins, and in the six losses Vermont has given up 62.7 points per game.
CRYMBLE LEADING THE WAY
Junior forward
Hanna Crymble leads the Catamounts in scoring with 14.3 PPG. She is toed for third in America East in scoring. She has been Vermont's leading scorer in 15 of the Catamounts 24 games. She is shooting 49.0% from the field this season which is tied for the second-best mark in America East. She is also shooting 88.5% from the free throw line, which is the best mark in the league.
WRIGHT BLOCK PARTY
Candice Wright is Vermont's all-time block leader with 2010 career blocks. She has 69 blocks this season which is third most in the NCAA. She is averaging 2.9 blocks per game, twice this season she has had eight blocks in a single game. By herself this season Candice has more blocks than four America East teams. With 2010 career blocks Wright is fifth all-time in America East history. She needs eight more blocks to tie Binghamton's Laura Franceski (2005-09) in fourth place. In Wednesday's 51-50 win over New Hampshire Wright had two blocked shots in the final minute as UVM completed a late comeback.
WRIGHT FEATURED BY JACK KORTE WPTZ
On Sunday evening WPTZ, Burlington's NBC affiliate debuted a feature story on Vermont's
Candice Wright. WPTZ sports anchor and reporter Jack Korte did the story on UVM's "Duchess of Denials" –
click here to watch the feature.
FIGHTING FOR HOME COURT IN THE QUARTERFINALS
The Catamounts enter Saturday's game in fifth place in America East at 6-6 1.5 games behind Stony Brook for home court advantage. Binghamton is a game behind the Catamounts at 5-7. The top-four teams at the end of the regular season will host the America East Quarterfinals on Wednesday, March 6.
SCOUTING HARTFORD
On Wednesday in the battle of the top-two teams in America East the Hawks fell 78-58 at Maine. Hartford now sits a game behind the defending champion Black Bears. Even with the loss the Hawks 9-2 start is their best in league play since the 2009-10 campaign when they went 16-0 in league play before falling to Vermont in the 2010 America East Championship game.
The Hawks have the fourth best turnover margin in the NCAA at 8.56 a game. Only Lamar, UC Irvine and Kentucky have a better mark. The Hawks have 317 steals this season which is the second-highest in the NCAA. Against Vermont in January the Hawks had 24 steals and scored 32 points off Vermont turnovers.
Senior guard Lindsey Abed leads the Hawks in scoring with 14.3 points per game. On February 6 against UMBC she hit a school and conference record 10 three-pointers. The Catamounts held her to a season-low two points in the teams previous meeting.
SERIES HISTORY
Vermont leads the all-time series 37-36 against the Hawks. The home team has won each of the last six games in the series. The Catamounts are 22-13 against Hartford at Patrick Gym.
On January 12, the Hawks defeated Vermont 62-31 at home.
Team Nissan North is the presenting sponsor of the 2018-19 women's basketball season.
