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America East semifinals: Utterback, UVM women's basketball stun Albany in final seconds
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- America East semifinals: Utterback, UVM women's basketball stun Albany in final seconds
Emma Utterback and the University of Vermont women's basketball team will play for back-to-back America East tournament titles.
Utterback rattled in the go-ahead 3-pointer with 14 seconds left as the No. 3 Catamounts completed a fourth-quarter rally to stun second-seeded Albany in a 50-46 victory during the conference semifinals at Broadview Center on Monday night.
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The defending league champion Catamounts (22-10) will play at No. 1 Maine on Friday at 5 p.m. on ESPNU. The winner will advance to the NCAA Tournament.
"I'm just proud of our players to respond at halftime and really clean up and really execute our gameplan," UVM coach Alisa Kresge said in the post-game interview on ESPN+ .
In Monday's semifinals, Vermont trailed by as many as 10 points early in the third quarter and twice had to overcome deficits in the final minute of a see-saw fourth quarter. The decisive basket came on Utterback's wing 3-pointer to push the visitors in front to stay at 48-46.
In total, Vermont and Albany traded the lead seven times in the fourth and 10 times overall with three ties during the 40-minute contest between the nation's top two stingiest scoring defenses.
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Four of Vermont's five starters finished in double figures paced by Keira Hanson's 13 points and Utterback's 12 points. Bella Vito (10 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two steals) scored more than twice in season average and Anna Olson added 11 points, six boards and three steals.
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Kayla Cooper posted 16 points and seven rebounds and Helene Haegerstrand tallied 15 points for the Great Danes (25-6), who have lost their last five games vs. Vermont counting last year's America East title game in Burlington.
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Albany took a 25-18 lead into the halftime break, and then opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer from Lilly Phillips for that 10-point margin. The Catamounts outscored Albany 12-6 for the rest of the third, ignited by Vito's two foul shots and an offensive rebound to set up Utterback's pull-up jumper, and a Delaney Richason 3.
Early in the fourth, Vermont erased a 36-31 deficit with an Utterback transition layup and Hanson's corner 3-pointer. Soon after, the two rivals started trading buckets.
Haegerstrand's baseline jumper for a 40-38 Albany lead was canceled out by Hanson's third triple on the night, giving Vermont its first advantage since 12-10 of the first quarter. Haegerstrand and Vito then traded baskets, followed by Cooper and Utterback doing the same just before the 30-second mark.
With 27.7 seconds left, Cooper scored inside to put Albany ahead 46-45. Then came Utterback's turn for what proved to be winner. Richason faked a 3-point attempt at the top of the key, put the ball on the floor and handed off to Utterback on the wing. The senior, a 24.4% career shooter on 3-pointers, rose from beyond the arc to nail the go-ahead triple.
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Vermont's defense stood tall on Cooper's driving attempt on the next possession before Olson knocked down a pair of foul shots with one-tenth of a second to play to cap the scoring.
Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com . Follow him on Twitter: @aabrami5 .
UVM Albany Women Hoops Semifinal Box Score by Alex Abrami on Scribd
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Vermont women's basketball: Catamounts stun Albany in AE semifinals
