Articles

Catamounts' Comeback Effort Falls Short Against Boston U in Women's Basketball

Details: Created on Thursday, 05 January 2012 04:01; Written by George Commo

Catamounts come back from a 19-point deficit only to lose by one 61-60

Courtesy Vermont Sports Information

BURLINGTON – The Vermont Catamounts came back from a 19-point deficit with a strong second half effort, but the Boston University Terriers were able to hold off UVM in the closing seconds to pull out a 61-60 victory at Patrick Gymnasium. Boston U improves to 8-6 overall and opens league play with a 1-0 mark. Vermont falls to 6-9 and drops to 0-2 in America East.

Boston U held a six-point lead with 6:04 left in the game. Vermont rattled off a 7-1 spurt capped by a pair of free throws from Lauren Wheeler, to tie the game up, 58-58, with 1:34 remaining. Boston U's Chantell Alford pushed the Terriers lead back to three on a 3-pointer at the 1:12 mark. Wheeler answered by sinking two more free throws with 40 seconds left to bring UVM back to within one, 61-60.

Boston U worked the clock down to 11 seconds when Mo Moran's layup missed the mark and a put back attempt by Caroline Stewart came after the shot clock expired.

Vermont gained possession, advanced the ball to half court and called a timeout. Following the timeout, UVM got the ball into Lauren Buschmann, but her layup attempt with two seconds left was blocked from behind by Stewart and went out of bounds. UVM kept possession with 0.3 seconds left and Buschmann's shot at the buzzer rimmed out.

“The team did a great job of responding in the second half,” said Vermont head coach Lori Gear McBride. “They did such a good job of making the adjustments that we asked them to make at halftime. In the first half the effort wasn't good enough. We were being out muscled and out hustled. They came out playing harder and wanting it more. In this league if you play hard you can accomplish a lot of things and I think they are finally able to see that that can really happen,” continued Gear McBride.

With Vermont trailing by one, 6-5, at the 15:53 mark of the first half, the Terriers opened up the game behind a 20-2 run over the next 7:25 and pushed out to a 26-7 lead at the 8:10 mark. Buschmann scored UVM's first seven points of the game and the Catamounts went 1-for-10 from the field, during the run.

The Terriers maintained a double-digit lead for the rest of the half and went into the locker room leading 37-21. Boston U's lead was bolstered by a 40 percent shooting effort from the floor, while the Catamounts shot just 25.8 percent from the field.

UVM turned the tables on the Terriers in the second half. Vermont outscored Boston U 26-10 in the first 11 minutes of the stanza to climb all the way back and knot the game up at 47-47 on a layup by Buschmann at the 9:24 mark. The Terriers were able to push back out to a six-point cushion when Kristen Sims banked in a 3-pointer at the 6:04 mark. Vermont put together one last rally in the final frantic minutes, but the Terriers were able to fend off the Catamounts.

Vermont's second half comeback was aided by a 36.8 percent effort from the field and holding the Terriers to 26.1 percent shooting from the floor. UVM also out rebounded Boston U 27-18, including 14-5 on the offensive glass in the second stanza. The Catamounts finished the game with a 50-41 edge on the glass.

“Our defense and rebounding gets us going and when we are doing those two things well that's when everything starts to click,” said Gear McBride.

Buschmann finished with a game-high 20 points and added nine rebounds and four assists to lead Vermont. Wheeler chipped in a season-high 12 points and six rebounds and Sam Simononis contributed 10 points to round out the leading scorers for the Catamounts.

Moran led the Terriers with 19 points and Rashidat Agboola posted a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 17 rebounds. Alford finished the night with 13 points.

“This was a great chance to understand and feel good about what we need to do to compete in the league. They played with great confidence after halftime and we had the momentum the whole second half. I think we're taking a step in the right direction,” continued Gear McBride.

Vermont returns to action on Saturday (Jan. 7) when it hits the road for the first time in league play. The Catamounts take on Hartford at Chase Family Arena at 2 p.m.

NOTES: America East Players of the Game – Rashidat Agboola (Boston U)/Lauren Buschmann (UVM).