VESTAL, NY – Vermont extended their winning streak to 13 games with a convincing 67-54 win over Binghamton in the regular season road finale on Wednesday (Feb. 22) night. With the victory the Catamounts improve to 21-6 and 13-2 in America East play while the Bearcats fall to 13-15 overall and 6-9 in conference play.
 
RELATED LINKS
Box Score | Box Score (.pdf)
 
COACH'S QUOTE
"Proud of the grit and toughness we had to finish our last road game of the regular season," said Mayer Head Women's Basketball Coach Alisa Kresge. "We fought to win the rebounding battle, shared the ball well for double digit assists and four double digits scorers. We're excited to come back to Patrick and play in front of our home crowd for our last regular season game."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Both teams struggled on their opening possessions before Denai Bowman netted a layup for Binghamton to go up 2-0.
• The Catamounts responded with a 13-4 run over the next 2:33 to take a 13-6 lead with 4:39 remaining. Delaney Richason led the Catamounts with five during the run while Paula Gonzalez added a three of her own and Emma Utterback converted an and one.
• Clare Traeger hit two free throws from Binghamton at the other end to cut the deficit to 13-8. Maria Myklebust answered right back with a pair of free throws of her own to put Vermont back up seven, 15-8 with 2:11 remaining to end a two minute scoreless draught.
• Paula Gonzalez and Ella Wanzer traded threes on back-to-back possessions and following Wanzer's three it was 18-12 in favor of Vermont with 1:12 remaining in the quarter, where the score would stay for the remainder of the first quarter.
• The two teams traded blows over the first seven plus minutes of the second quarter with Vermont holding a 12-11 edge to take a 30-23 lead with 2:55 remaining. Anna Olson and Catherine Gilwee led Vermont with five points each and Richason added a layup of her own.
• Vermont finished the first half on an 7-0 spurt to gain a double digit lead at 37-23 heading into halftime. Utterback finished a bank shot from the right block before finding Aryana Dizon on the fast break for another layup on the next possession. Myklebust added a free throw and Gilwee knocked down a jumper with one second remaining.
• Over the first seven half minutes of the second half the Catamounts extended their run from the first half to 19-8 holding the edge 12-8 to extend their lead to 49-31 with 3:20 remaining.
• The Bearcats battled back with a 7-0 run of their own to cut the lead to 49-38 after Bowman converted an and-one 57 seconds left. Dizon responded for Vermont with an offensive putback to put Vermont up 51-38 heading into the fourth quarter.
• Binghamton again would not go away as they started the fourth quarter on a 7-3 spurt to cut the deficit to single digits, 54-45 with 4:46 remaining.
• Vermont answered with a layup from Olson before Bella Vito converted a corner three with 2:22 left to extend their lead to 59-47.
• Binghamton would not get any closer as Utterback drained a top of the key three to go up 64-49 with 57 seconds remaining. Traeger answered with a deep corner two on the other end for the Bearcats to make it 64-51 with 51 seconds remaining.
• Gilwee knocked down two free throws with 44 seconds left to extend their lead to 66-51.
• Each team knocked down some free throws down the stretch, but Vermont iced the game and gave it its final score of 67-54.

 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Vermont dominated the glass winning the rebounding battle 37-24.
• The Catamounts registered 17 assists as a team and held Binghamton to just five.
• Utterback finished with a team-high 13 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
• Vermont had four double digit scorers in the game.
• Gilwee registered 12 points and five assists.
• Gonzalez finished with 10 points and six rebounds going 3-3 from beyond three point range.

 
WHAT'S NEXT
Following tonight's matchup at Binghamton the Catamounts will return to Patrick Gym for their season finale against Bryant on Saturday February 25. The start time for that game is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. ET and will be broadcast live on ESPN3. Ryan Zimmerman, the voice of Catamounts women's basketball, will be on the radio call on WVMT. Saturday's game will be the Catamounts annual Senior Day presented by the Alumni Association. There will be a pregame ceremony for women's basketball seniors prior to the start of the game.