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UVM women's basketball blasts Albany and the country's No. 1-ranked defense
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- UVM women's basketball blasts Albany and the country's No. 1-ranked defense
The physical and emotional toll of last Saturday's loss to Maine could've sent the University of Vermont women's basketball team spiraling in the wrong direction.
The narrow defeat put Vermont's hopes to repeat as America East Conference regular-season champion in jeopardy and saw Anna Olson exit in the final minutes due to an injury that left her in tears.
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"Obviously we were pretty angry about the end of the last game," Olson said.
Thursday night, Olson and the Catamounts took their frustrations out on the league's No. 1 team.
Andjela Matic struck for a career high-tying 18 points on a perfect shooting performance and Olson tallied 10 points, three rebounds and three assists in 29 gutsy minutes as the Catamounts schooled Albany and the nation's top-ranked defense for a 67-35 victory in front of 945 at Patrick Gym.
Emma Utterback shook off first-half foul trouble to post 12 points, while fellow fifth-year senior Delaney Richason added 10 points and Keira Hanson chipped in nine points for Vermont, which swept the Great Danes for the first time in 14 years.
Vermont's Delaney Richason shoots a free throw during the Catamounts' 67-35 rout of Albany at Patrick Gym on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024.
The Catamounts shot 73.7% in the opening 20 minutes and were at a 57.5% clip through three quarters. Vermont's defense, meanwhile, held Albany to 28.9% field-goal shooting for 40 minutes in a rematch of last year's conference title game.
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In its wire-to-wire victory, Vermont seized leads of 16-4 after the opening quarter and 35-15 at the break.
"This was definitely the most put-together performance we've played both offensively and defensively," Olson said. "This is exactly where we want to peak at this point of the season."
Vermont improves to 19-9 overall and 11-3 in league play and the Great Danes fall to 22-4, 11-2. In other America East action on Thursday, Maine (18-9, 11-2) also lost. The Cats are within half-a-game with two games left in the regular season (three games for Maine and Albany).
More: How much will UVM men's hockey coach Steve Wiedler be paid?
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Vermont coach Alisa Kresge said her team delivered the necessary response and "showed what we hope our standard is" of toughness, defense, focus and ball-sharing.
"That's what we want to look like for 40 minutes. That was a taste of what potentially we could be like," Kresge said. "Now we have to figure that out for every game, can't just be in the big games.
"They were really focused. It was a really great team win."
Matic (5 of 5 from the field, 4 of 4 on 3-pointers) buried a triple to close the first quarter. Hanson did the same prior to the halftime buzzer on a well-designed play call that freed up the sophomore guard at the top of the key. In between those 3-pointers, Vermont drained 75% of its second-quarter field goals.
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Vermont also built its insurmountable lead with its star, Utterback, on the bench following two quick fouls. Utterback only played three-plus minutes in the first half.
"Losing Emma at any point is definitely nerve-wracking," Kresge said. "But it's great to see players continue to believe in each other and know their roles and step in and not skip beat. That's a huge jump for a lot of the sophomore class."
Vermont visits Bryant on Saturday.
"We have to show up. We have to be focused and locked in, there's no taking anybody lightly," Kresge said.
For Albany, Kayla Cooper scored 13 points on 5 of 12 shooting. The Great Danes ended with 18 turnovers, leading to 21 UVM points.
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UVM men's basketball pull away at Albany
Final score:Vermont 94, Albany 80
Vermont leaders:Shamir Bogues 17 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists. TJ Long 15 points, 2 steals. Aaron Deloney 14 points, 3 assists. Ileri Ayo-Faleye 12 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks. TJ Hurley 12 points. Nick Fiorillo 10 points. Matt Veretto 9 points, 4 rebounds.
Albany leaders:Tyler Bertram 27 points. Sebastian Thomas 19 points. Amar'e Marshall 14 points.
Note:The league-leading Catamounts (22-6, 12-1) shot 55.2% from the floor, gained a 32-26 edge on the glass and scored 46 points in the paint. Up 47-41 at the break thanks to a Fiorillo putback at the buzzer, the visiting Catamounts outscored Albany 47-39 in the second stanza, building a margin that hit 18 points. ... Albany falls to 12-15, 4-8.
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Up next:Saturday night at home vs. Bryant.
Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com . Follow him on Twitter: @aabrami5 .
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Vermont basketball: Catamount teams sweep Albany in America East
