FINAL SCORE: Vermont 55, UAlbany 40 

BURLINGTON, Vt. – The one-seed Vermont (25-7, 13-3 AE) Catamounts pulled away late from the eight-seeded UAlbany (14-16, 4-12 AE) Great Danes, defeating UAlbany 55-40 on Thursday night from Patrick Gymnasium during the Air Force Reserve America East quarterfinals. With the win, the Catamounts advance to their fifth consecutive America East semifinal appearance and improve to 12-2 at home on the season.  

RELATED LINKS  
Box Score 
CatamounTV: Highlights | Postgame ESPN Hit
Postgame: Coach Kresge | Priede | Weltz

COACH'S QUOTE  

"This is March basketball," said Mayer Women's Basketball Head Coach. "It's intense, it's hard, Albany's an excellent team, an excellent program, they understand what it takes to play at this level. They made their runs, and I was really pleased to see how we responded. We definitely were playing on our heels there for a minute, but found a way to respond, and then we took that momentum to finish out the game. But it's March, and as long as you get one more point, that's all that matters." 

HOW IT HAPPENED  

• A slow offensive start for both teams resulted in UAlbany garnering a 4-0 lead by the first media timeout with 6:52 on the clock in the opening frame. Amaya Stewart collected all four points for the Great Danes to open quarterfinal play.  

• UAlbany was forced to take a short timeout with 5:14 on the clock in the first quarter after Vermont responded with an 8-0 scoring run, getting a three-pointer from Keira Hanson and Malia Lenz, followed by another mid-range jump shot by Hanson, gaining an 8-4 lead.  

• Vermont continued their run throughout the first frame, seeing the Great Danes take another short timeout with 2:17 on the clock in the opening quarter after Vermont extended the lead to 17-8, getting six points from Emma Haan and a bucket from Nikola Priede. Lenz also added a free throw for the Catamounts.  

• Lenz capped off the first quarter splashing her second three-pointer of the game, sending UVM into the second quarter with a 20-8 advantage.  

• Priede opened scoring in the second quarter executing on a mid-range jump shot, but UAlbany responded, orchestrating an 11-0 scoring run to close the deficit to three points, 22-19, in favor of the Catamounts.  

• Jadyn Weltz halted the Great Dane offensive surge, swishing her first three-pointer of the game to extend the Catamount lead to six points, 25-19. Hanson earned an assist on Weltz's first basket of the contest.  

• Priede wrapped up the first half of action scoring two more buckets for UVM before both teams entered halftime, seeing Vermont lead 29-22 after 20 minutes of action.  

• UAlbany began the third quarter getting out to a slight 6-4 scoring run before the first media timeout with 4:32 on the clock as Vermont maintained the lead, 33-28. Stewart, Julia Palomo, and Delanie Hill each collected a basket for the Great Danes while Priede and Hanson scored a pair of buckets for the Catamounts.  

• Martina Borrellas came out of that media timeout scoring her first bucket of the game for UAlbany, completing a driving layup while getting fouled, cutting the Vermont lead to three points, 33-30. Borrellas made her extra free-throw, bringing the Great Danes to within two, 33-31. 

• The Catamounts finished the third quarter on an 8-0 scoring run, getting four points from Priede, two from Hanson, and two from Lenz, taking a 41-31 advantage into the final frame of play. Priede ignited the Patrick Gymnasium crowd after posting an emphatic block on UAlbany's final try at the basket with seconds to spare, notching her third block of the game.  

• The Catamounts came out on fire to open the fourth quarter, seeing Weltz open the final frame swishing her second three-pointer, then followed it up by finding Priede in the paint who successfully banked in her layup, gaining the Catamounts a 46-31 lead, forcing the Great Danes to call a timeout and regroup.  

• The teams finished the game on an even 9-9 scoring run going back-and-forth, but it was the Catamounts that walked away victorious, winning 55-40 from Patrick Gymnasium during the America East quarterfinals.  

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE  

• Priede led a team-high 16 points while tallying a game-high three blocks. Priede also corralled three rebounds and dished out one assist.  

• Lenz recorded a career high five steals to go along with 13 points, seven rebounds, and two steals.  

• Hanson notched 11 points while registering a game-high six assists Hanson also pulled down five rebounds, tying a career high in that department.  

• Weltz made a game-high three shots from long distance, recording nine total points while adding a team high eight rebounds. Weltz also grabbed two steals and earned two assists.  

• UVM grabbed eight offensive rebounds to UAlbany's six.  

• The Catamounts had five blocks to the Great Danes' three and posted 10 steals to UAlbany's five.  

• Vermont had 19 points off turnovers while UAlbany scored seven off turnovers.  

• UVM scored 30 points in the paint to UAlbany's 16.  

• UVM shot 23-55 (41.8%) from the floor and 6-18 (33.3%) from three-point range, bettering UAlbany's 14-40 (35%) shooting from the field and 3-14 (21.4%) from long distance.  

• Vermont advances to their fifth straight America East semifinal game, the longest streak in 18 years.  

• This is the fourth season in a row Vermont has ended UAlbany's season, first time doing so in the quarterfinals in that time span.  

• 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  

Following the quarterfinal win over UAlbany, the Catamounts will be back in action for the Air Force Reserve America East semifinals on Monday, Mar. 9, when they host four-seeded UMBC from Patrick Gymnasium. That game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with tip-off set for 6 p.m.  

Semifinals: Monday, March 9 at 6 p.m. 

• Season Ticket Holders: Application available online through Thursday, March 5 at 11:59 p.m. 

• General Public On Sale: Friday, March 6 at 12 p.m. 

For news and updates about the Vermont women's basketball program, follow @UVMwbb on X and Facebook, @Catamountsbb on Instagram, and visit UVMathletics.com. 

Vermont Federal Credit Union is the presenting sponsor of Vermont Women's Basketball