Articles

Vermont Women's Basketball Cruises Past Stony Brook, 63-36

Details: Created on Sunday, 29 January 2012 01:43; Written by George Commo

Shumpert, Taylor and Burchill combine for 43 points and 23 rebounds

Courtesy Vermont Sports Information

STONY BROOK – The freshmen trio of Tierra Shumpert, Niki Taylor and Kayla Burchill combined for 43 points and 23 rebounds to lead the Vermont Catamounts to a decisive 63-36 victory over Stony Brook at Pritchard Gymnasium in America East women's basketball action.

The Catamounts snap a four-game losing streak and avenge an earlier loss to Stony Brook in the conference opener back on Jan. 2. UVM moves to 9-13 overall and 3-6 in the league. The Seawolves fall to 4-18 on the year and 1-8 in America East.

“I am extremely pleased with our our performance today, particularly our defense and rebounding,” said Vermont head coach Lori Gear McBride.

Vermont jumped out to a 10-point lead, 17-7, at the 12:32 mark and never looked back. The Catamounts maintained their double-digit lead and a 3-pointer by Sam Simononis pushed UVM's advantage to 15 with just over two minutes left in the half. Vermont went into the break leading 30-16.

Kelli Krueger scored the first four points of the second half for Stony Brook to cut UVM's lead to 10, but the Catamounts answered with an 11-3 run to extend their lead to 19, 42-23, with 12:47 left in the half. Vermont maintained its big advantage the rest of the way and cruised to the victory.

Shumpert scored a game-high 17 points, matching her career-high. Burchill posted her first career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Taylor also chipped in a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Simononis rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points.

The Catamounts out rebounded Stony Brook 52-28 overall and 21-7 on the offensive glass.

“Stony Brook's size inside was a concern heading into the game and I thought Kayla (Burchill) and Niki (Taylor) did a good job defensively by limiting their touches and not letting their post players get their own rebound,” continued Gear McBride.

“Tierra is really coming into her own as a point guard and I thought she did a nice job leading our attack. Sam and Shanai gave us solid performances both with rebounding and penetrating through Stony Brook's defense,” said Gear McBride.

Sam Landers paced the Seawolves with 12 points, nine in the second half.

Vermont returns to action on Wednesday (Feb. 1) when it travels to Boston U. The game tips off at 5 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN3.com.