WOMEN'S BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK
Vermont (18-10, 12-5) closes out the regular season Saturday evening in a 5 p.m. contest at UMass Lowell (10-14, 7-8). The action will air live on ESPN3 and fans can also listen live with Cooper Boardman on AM 620 WVMT.
 
RELATED LINKS
Listen Live | Live Stats | Live Video (ESPN3)
Buy America East Quarterfinal Tickets
 
CATAMOUNTS CLINCH HOME PLAYOFF GAME
Vermont will host its first home playoff game since 2001 on Saturday, March 5 at 2:30 p.m. in the America East Quarterfinals. Tickets for the general public are available now for the contest by visiting UVMAthletics.com.
 
Season ticket holders can purchase their regular season seats for the quarterfinal through their online ticket account, by calling the UVM Ticket Office at (802) 656-4410, or in person at the UVM Ticket Office during regular office hours of 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday. Season ticket holders can purchase their regular season seats for the quarterfinal game until Friday, March 4 at 5 p.m.
 
Ticket Prices
Courtside: $25
Reserved: $11
GA: $9
GA – Youth 12 & Under: $7
UVM Students: Free
 
PLAYOFF PICTURE
Vermont enters the weekend tied with UAlbany for the two-seed in the upcoming America East Tournament. As the two-seed the Catamounts or Great Danes would be guaranteed homecourt advantage in the quarterfinals and semifinals. The Great Danes host first place Stony Brook on Saturday. The four quarterfinal hosts in America East are set. Maine, UAlbany, NJIT and Vermont will host the opening round of the conference tournament.
 
THREE STARTERS IN DOUBLE FIGURES
Three of Vermont's four starters who have started every game this season – Emma Utterback (12.8 PPG), Josie Larkins (11.7 PPG) and Anna Olson (12.1 PPG) are leading the Catamounts all scoring in double figures. All three of them play an average of 30.3 minutes or more per game. One of the three of them has led UVM in scoring in 25 of its 28 games this season and each of the last 12 games.
 
RICHASON A BIG INDICATOR FOR SUCCESS
UVM is now 13-1 this season when junior forward Delaney Richason reaches double figures in scoring. Richason had nine points against UMass Lowell on February 23 and nine points Wednesday against Binghamton.
 
LARKINS HAVING A CAREER-YEAR FROM DOWNTOWN
Larkins is tied for 15th in the NCAA with 72 made three-pointers this season. She is shooting 40.0 percent from downtown which is 46th in the country. She has made 232 career three-pointers which ranks second all-time at UVM. In games where Larkins hits three or more three-pointers in a game UVM is 10-2 this season. On Wednesday, she hit five three-pointers against Binghamton. She set the single-season program record for threes Wednesday evening.
 
UTTERBACK LEADING THE OFFENSE
Junior guard Emma Utterback is second in America East this season with 106 assists. She averages 3.8 per game. Her assist-to-turnover ratio is 1.96 this season which ranks 53rd in the NCAA. In conference play Utterback is tied for third in league scoring with 14.1 points per game.
 
ALL STARTS ON THE DEFENSIVE END
UVM is second in America East and 12th in the NCAA on the defensive end this season giving up 53.9 points per game. In the Catamounts 18 wins this year they've given up just 48.4 points per game. Vermont is also second in America East averaging 4.3 blocked shots per game.
 
CATAMOUNTS BACK TO THEIR WINNING WAYS
With one game left in the regular season Vermont has reached 18 regular season wins for the first time since the 2009-10 campaign. UVM also has 12 conference wins which is their best conference mark since the same season. UVM hasn't been above .500 in a full conference season since the 2009-10 campaign either.
 
SCOUTING UMASS LOWELL
Sophomore guard Baylee Teal had a career-high 16 points and made four three-pointers Wednesday night as the River Hawks handed first-place Stony Brook its third conference loss of the season 70-68. With the win UML snapped a three-game losing streak in league play. It was the River Hawks' fourth game in eight days.
 
Kharis Idom is averaging a team-high 10.1 points per game and leads the team with 39 made threes this season. On Wednesday, she became the second player in UML's Division I era to reach 1,000 career points. Against the Catamounts earlier this season she had 19 points.
 
The River Hawks playoff matchup is set already. UMass Lowell will be the five-seed and travel to the four-seed NJIT in the quarterfinals. Their matchup is set for Saturday, March 5 at 4 p.m.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Vermont and UMass Lowell have only met 17 times in their history, the River Hawks hold the series edge at 9-8. The home team has won eight of the last ten games between the two teams.
 
Rise to the Top is the presenting sponsor of Vermont women's basketball