Final: Vermont 75, New Hampshire 41
DURHAM, N.H. – Andjela Matic scored a career-high 18 points to lead the Catamounts to a dominating 75-41 victory over New Hampshire in Durham on Thursday night. With the win Vermont improves to 18-8 on the season and earns their 10th America East victory of the season to just two losses. With the defeat New Hampshire falls to 9-16 overall and 3-9 in conference play.
RELATED LINKS
Box Score | Box Score (.pdf)
COACH'S QUOTE
"This group showed up with the mindset of playing hard from the tip and I thought that set the tone for us," Mayer Head Women's Basketball Coach
Alisa Kresge said. "Always nice when perimeter shots are falling, and teammates are finding each other. Makes for good team basketball."
HOW IT HAPPENED
- New Hampshire scored the first two points of the game before Vermont went on an 11-2 run capped by a Delaney Richason three with 3:04 remaining in the opening quarter to seize and 11-4 lead, a lead they would never relinquish. Richason connected on two threes while Emma Utterback and Keira Hanson each added a layup for the Catamounts.
- The Wildcats narrowed the deficit over the end of the quarter and a Bella Stuart free throw with 9:16 remaining in the second quarter cut the Vermont lead to 13-9.
- Vermont responded with a quick 12-4 run of their own over the next four minutes of action to gain a 25-13 lead. Richason dropped in two more threes while Anna Olson chipped in four during the run for Vermont.
- New Hampshire came back with a 7-4 run to cut the score to 29-20 with 2:22 remaining in the second quarter following a pair of Stuart free throws.
- The Catamounts would counter with an 8-1 spurt to close out the first half with a 37-21 lead. Matic knocked down back-to-back threes during the run to begin her big night.
- Vermont scored the first five points of the second half, and another Matic three with 8:46 doubled up New Hampshire 42-21.
- The Wildcats would not go away quietly, responding with an 11-2 run of their own to close the score to 44-32 with 5:10 remaining in the third quarter. Stuart had five during the span to lead New Hampshire.
- Vermont again had an answer, finishing the last five minutes of the third quarter on a 15-0 run to all but put the game away and take a commanding 59-32 lead into the fourth quarter. Matic hit two more three's during the span while Olson added four and Hanson knocked in a three of her own.
- To begin the fourth quarter Maggie Cavanaugh knocked down a three pointer to stem the tide for the Wildcats.
- However, Paula Gonzalez answered with a corner three of her own on the other end to push Vermont's lead to 62-35 with 7:39 remaining in the game.
- The two teams battled back-and-forth over the next three plus minutes to a 4-4 draw following a Nikola Priede with 4:16 remaining in the game.
- The Catamounts then closed out the game with a 9-2 run to earn the 75-41 victory. Matic connected on her sixth triple of the game to help close out the run and lead UVM.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Catamounts had four players score in double figures for the fifth time this season (5-0).
- Matic led all scorers with 18 points connecting on six of her 10 three point attempts. She also tied for a game-high with six rebounds and had a game-high five assists.
- Richason finished with 13 points on 4-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc.
- Utterback finished with 12 points, three rebounds and three assists.
- Olson recorded 10 points alongside five rebounds, two steals and one block.
- As a team Vermont shot a season-high 55.1 percent from the floor and 63.6 percent from beyond the arc.
- The Catamounts held New Hampshire to just 26.5 percent shooting from the field and 25.0 percent from deep.
- The Catamounts won the bench points battle outscoring the Wildcats 33-18.
- Vermont also won the rebounding battle 34-27.
- Vermont set a season-high with 14 triples made as a team. The 14 threes made tied a team record dating back to Feb. 16, 2005.
- This is the first time in the Kresge era the Catamounts have won three consecutive games by 20+ points.
- With the win, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group will donate $100 to Vermont Children's Trust Foundation as part of the Cats Win, Community Wins initiative. Since its inauguration in 2017, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group has donated over $94,000 to local non-profits through the Cats Win, Community Wins initiative.
WHAT'S NEXT
Following tonight's matchup with the Wildcats, Vermont will return home for an important two-game homestand against second ranked Maine and first ranked UAlbany. The Catamounts and Black Bears will square off on Saturday (Feb. 17) with tipoff scheduled for 4 p.m. That game will be Vermont's annual Rally Around Mental Game presented by Redstone. Vermont will then face UAlbany in their final regular season home game on Thursday (Feb. 22) with tip set for 6 p.m. Tickets are available for purchase at
UVMathletics.com/Tickets or by visiting the Patrick Gym Box Office on gameday.
Vermont Federal Credit Union is the presenting sponsor of Vermont Women's Basketball