FINAL SCORE: Vermont 71, Bryant 53

BURLINGTON, Vt. – Vermont (17-5, 6-1 AE) defeated Bryant (14-6, 4-3 AE) on Saturday afternoon at Patrick Gymnasium, during the National Girls & Women In Sports Day game presented by Vermont Mutual Insurance Group. The win marked the Catamounts' seventh straight home victory over Bryant, a streak dating back to 2019.

RELATED LINKS

Box Score | CatamountTV Highlights 

COACH'S QUOTE

"Walking into this game, Bryant is a really talented program," said Mayer Women's Basketball Head Coach Alisa Kresge. "They have one of the top defenses in the nation, not just in our league. We knew it was going to be a grind. I was really proud of our players setting the tone offensively. I thought that was a huge key, and also playing assertive. To set the tone from the beginning was huge. I think that gave us confidence because our defense was doing the right thing. And then that really pushed us into that second quarter there. As usual, we are just trying to figure out how to stay disciplined for 40 minutes. It is something we are going to keep on working on. But I thought that was a solid win, it's important to get as many of those at home and win those because road games are even harder." =

HOW IT HAPPENED

• At the first media timeout, Bryant held a 7-6 lead over Vermont, with Nia Scott scoring five for the Bulldogs, and Keira Hanson scoring five for the Catamounts. 

• The Catamounts went on a 10-6 run following the timeout. Highlighted by three-pointers from both Jadyn Weltz and Hanson. Emma Haan and Jacklynn Hosier added layups before the end of the quarter to send Vermont into the second quarter up 16-13. 

• Vermont opened the second quarter on a 7-0 run behind two layups from Malia Lenz and a three-pointer from Weltz, forcing a Bryant timeout at the 8:38 mark of the second. 

• The Catamounts continued to apply pressure after the break, closing the half on an 18-10 run from the 7:55 mark of the second to halftime. The run began with a driving layup by Weltz and ended with a Lenz corner three off the assist from Hanson. Vermont carried a 41-23 lead into the locker room. 

• Bryant opened the third quarter with a 6-5 run, starting with a jumper by Mimi Rubino, followed by layups from Maranda Nyborg and Scott. 

• Vermont responded with a 7-4 run to close the quarter. Nikola Priede knocked down two free throws, Haan added one, and Hosier scored on a close-range jumper and a driving layup to extend the Catamounts' lead.

• The Bulldogs opened the fourth quarter on an 11-7 run through the 5:15 mark, beginning with a Nyborg jumper and capped by a Rubino three-pointer.

• From there, Vermont closed the game on an 11-9 run with four different Catamounts contributing. Hosier buried a three-pointer with seven seconds remaining to give Vermont a 71-50 lead before Bryant answered with a three-pointer of its own.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Weltz scored a season-high 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 shooting from three. She added eight rebounds and two assists. 

• Priede and Lenz each pulled down nine rebounds. Priede finished with 10 points, while Lenz added nine. 

• Haan scored eight points on 2-of-5 shooting and grabbed four rebounds. Hanson contributed 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting, including 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.

• Vermont held the edge in every shooting category, finishing 26 of 61 (42.6%) from the field compared with Bryant's 22 of 56 (39.3%). The Catamounts shot 8 of 15 (53.3%) from 3-point range, while the Bulldogs went 6 of 17 (35.3%). Vermont also outperformed Bryant at the free-throw line, shooting 11 of 13 (84.6%) compared with 3 of 6 (50.0%).

• With today's Win, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group will donate $100 to the Ronald McDonald House through the Cat's Win, Community Win's initiative. Vermont Mutual has donated over $6 Million Dollars since launching their Charitable Giving Fund in 2014.

UP NEXT

UVM will travel to Baltimore, Md., to face UMBC on Thursday, Jan. 29. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. ET. The game will air live on ESPN+. The radio broadcast will be available via the Varsity Network App with Ryan Zimmerman on the call.