Articles

Catamounts Fall to Great Danes in Women's Basketball

Details

Created on Friday, 20 January 2012 04:11

Written by George Commo

Catamounts fall 65-47 ... slip to 8-12 and 2-5 in America East

Courtesy Vermont Sports Information

ALBANY, N.Y. – Kayla Burchill scored a team-high 13 points, but the Vermont Catamounts fell 65-47 at Albany In America East women's basketball action at SEFCU Arena.  Albany improves to 12-8 and 6-1 in America East, while Vermont falls to 8-12 and 2-5 in the league.

“I don't think the score reflected how well we played in certain areas tonight,” said Vermont head coach Lori Gear McBride.  “Kayla and Niki really stepped up and as we learn to play without Lauren (Buschmann), they are only going to get better.  I also thought Shanai did an excellent job attacking in transition and getting important baskets when we needed them,” continued Gear McBride.

Albany held a 14-8 lead, but a three-point play by Niki Taylor cut the margin to three at the 12:50 mark of the first half.  The Great Danes answered with a 17-4 run to push out to a 16-point advantage, 31-15, with 3:55 remaining.  The Catamounts responded with a 10-2 spurt to climb back within eight at the 1:15 mark, but the Great Danes scored twice in the final 43 seconds to take a 35-25 advantage into the break.

Albany, which leads America East in field goal percentage defense, held the Catamounts to 25.8 percent shooting in the first half, while the Great Danes shot 41.4 percent from the floor.

In the second half, the Great Danes led 47-35 at the 11:25 mark, but the Catamounts sliced the lead to six, 49-43, on a layup by Taylor that capped an 8-2 run by the Vermont.  But UVM was limited to just two field goals over the final 6:43 of the game and the Great Danes went on a 16-4 run to secure the win.

“We struggled adjusting to their physicality on the boards in the first half and dug ourselves into a hole, which proved too much to overcome.  We learned a lot about our team tonight and I know that as the season progresses, we will continue to improve and learn from our mistakes,” continued Gear McBride.

Taylor chipped in 11 points and eight rebounds and Shanai Heber added 10 points and eight boards for Vermont.  Freshman Tierra Shumpert handed out a career-high six assists and contributed six points.

Julie Forster led the Great Danes with 15 points and 11 rebounds.  Teammate Ebone Henry also recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.  Cassandra Callaway rounded out the Albany scoring leaders with 12 points.

Vermont returns to action on Sunday (Jan. 22) when it hosts UMBC at 1 p.m. at Patrick Gymnasium.  The game will be broadcast on WCAXtra, the digital channel of WCAX the CBS affiliate in Burlington.  WCAXtra is located on Digital 3.2, Comcast 331, Burlington Telecom 303, Charter 295, Waitsfield Telecom 133 and Time Warner 165. The channel reaches more than 300,000 households throughout Vermont, New Hampshire and New York.

The game can also be seen online for free via CatamounTV at UVMathletics.com.
Tickets are available online at www.UVMathletics.com, over the phone at 802-656-4410, in person at the Patrick Gym Ticket Office (Hours: M-F, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.), and an hour before tipoff the day of the game.