Articles

Women's Hoops: Vermont Falls at New Hampshire 58-48

Details: Created on Sunday, 12 February 2012 05:14; Written by George Commo

Catamounts limited to 28.3 percent shooting

Courtesy Vermont Sports Information

DURHAM, N.H. – Kayla Burchill scored a team-high 10 points and Shanai Heber grabbed a game-high 15 points, but Denise Beliveau scored a game-high 17 points to lead the New Hampshire Wildcats to a 58-48 victory over Vermont at Lundholm Gymnasium.

“Overall, I think that we had moments where we did a good job competing, but failed to sustain it for 40 minutes,” said Vermont head coach Lori Gear McBride. “UNH's depth inside was tough to combat. Our inability to convert some of our transition opportunities really halted our ability to get anything going from a momentum standpoint.”

Ashley Hoyt made a jumper at the 14:46 mark to give UVM an 8-7 lead over the Wildcats. New Hampshire answered with eight straight points which led to a 17-7 run, allowing the Wildcats to open up a double-digit lead, 25-14, with 8:09 remaining in the half.

New Hampshire's lead grew to 17, 36-19, with 4:05 left, but a pair of baskets by Burchill and Niki Taylor cut the lead to 14 at the break, 38-24.

UNH scored the first six points of the second half and went on a 12-4 spurt to extend its lead to 22, 50-28, at the 10:13 mark. The Catamounts were able to slice the lead to 10 by closing the game with a 15-5 run, for the final margin.

Hoyt finished the game with a season-high eight points and added six rebounds. Taylor also chipped in eight points. The Catamounts were limited to 28.3 percent shooting from the floor, but did win the rebound battle, 38-37 and 19-11 on the offensive glass.

“I thought our freshmen continue to work really hard and battle, especially Niki and Kayla on the inside, and it is definitely going to pay dividends for us in the future,” continued Gear McBride.

Beliveau was the only Wildcat in double figures, but Morgan Frame added nine points and Kelsey Hogan chipped in seven points and four assists. UNH scored 17 points off of 20 UVM turnovers in the game.

Vermont returns to action on Wednesday (Feb. 15) when it hosts Albany at 7 p.m. at Patrick Gymnasium. The Catamounts will be wearing pink uniforms for the Play 4Kay initiative. Live video is also available for free via CatamounTV at UVMathletics.com.