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Gilwee's career game not enough as UVM women's basketball falls to Stony Brook

alex abrami, burlington free press
·4 min read

The lead changed a dozen times; tied on seven occasions. Vermont uncorked an early 10-0 run. Stony Brook snatched control with a 10-2 spurt to start the fourth quarter.

Momentum swings abound, the University of Vermont women's basketball team had a chance to extinguish a five-year winless drought vs. Stony Brook and continue its longest America East Conference winning streak since 2010.

But the Catamounts couldn't complete one final charge, dropping a 71-63 league contest to the first-place Seawolves at Patrick Gym on Wednesday night.

Earlette Scott swiped a steal off Vermont standout guard Emma Utterback in a two-point game with 41 seconds to play, and the reigning conference champion Seawolves (16-2, 7-1) sealed the victory at the foul line to polish off a regular-season sweep of the Catamounts (11-8, 5-3).

UVM entered the league showdown on a four-game winning streak, all by double digits. It was UVM's first defeat since falling at Stony Brook earlier this month.

"Stony Brook is a good team, they were picked No. 1 for a reason," UVM coach Alisa Kresge said. "What I said to (the players) is, ‘We can compete (with Stony Brook), but how do we fix the little details to get over just competing but beating a team like that?'"

Vermont's Emma Utterback shoots a 3-pointer during the Catamounts 71-63 loss to Stony Brook on Wednesday night at UVM's Patrick Gym.
Vermont's Emma Utterback shoots a 3-pointer during the Catamounts 71-63 loss to Stony Brook on Wednesday night at UVM's Patrick Gym.

Anatasia Warren led all scorers with 19 points, while Gigi Gonzalez totaled 18 points and Scott tossed in 17 for Stony Brook, which overcame 35.7% field-goal shooting by going 26-for-31 at the foul line. The visitors also scored 18 points off 16 UVM turnovers.

UVM, meanwhile, made just six 3-pointers for the third straight game. The lack of an outside shot combined with Stony Brook's free throws proved costly, Kresge said.

"We have to hit a couple more shots and stop fouling. We can’t put a team to the line 30-plus times and think you are going to be able to win," Kresge said. "(Stony Brook) packs it in and they usually make you hit some shots from the perimeter to win."

Freshman guard Catherine Gilwee recorded career highs in points (15) and 3-pointers, making five of UVM's six triples, before fouling out in the final 30 seconds.

Vermont's Catherine Gilwee surveys the Seawolves defense during the Catamounts 71-63 loss to Stony Brook on Wednesday night at UVM's Patrick Gym.
Vermont's Catherine Gilwee surveys the Seawolves defense during the Catamounts 71-63 loss to Stony Brook on Wednesday night at UVM's Patrick Gym.

"She’s a winner. She will do whatever the team needs," said Kresge of Gilwee, the former Champlain Valley Union High School star. "We are proud of her, she’s a freshman stepping into a big role. She’s a huge piece of the offense and really helps our offense go and creates a lot of offense for us."

Anna Olson (16 points, eight rebounds), Josie Larkins (10 points) and Utterback (10 points, four assists, five boards) also reached double figures for the Cats.

The Catamounts found quick buckets inside for Olson to ignite the 10-0 run that produced an 18-13 first-quarter lead. Miscues, though, plagued the hosts in the second frame. Stony Brook turned over UVM eight times and earned a 23-13 second-quarter advantage for a 34-31 halftime lead.

A back-and-forth third quarter saw eight lead changes, highlighted by a pair of Gilwee triples, Utterback's driving layup and Bella Vito's putback, the latter for a 51-50 margin.

Vermont's Anna Olson takes the ball into the post during the Catamounts 71-63 loss to Stony Brook on Wednesday night at UVM's Patrick Gym.
Vermont's Anna Olson takes the ball into the post during the Catamounts 71-63 loss to Stony Brook on Wednesday night at UVM's Patrick Gym.

UVM in front 53-51 to start the fourth quarter, Stony Brook got to the charity stripe three times, converting all six attempts, during 10-2 spurt to take a 61-55 lead with 5:48 to go.

The Cats' comeback bid started with Gilwee, playing with four fouls, pouring in a 3-pointer as the shot clock neared zeros. After Gonzalez went 1 of 2 at the line and Warren swished a 3-pointer for Stony Brook, Larkins nailed in her only trey in nine tries and then drove with a lefty finish off the glass to cut the Cats' deficit to 65-63 with 1:14 remaining.

UVM forced an errant 3-pointer on Stony Brook's next trip and Kresge called a timeout to set up a potential game-tying or go-ahead shot. But Scott forced the late turnover and the Seawolves closed it out from there.

"We didn’t execute coming out of a timeout. But even in that situation we have plenty of options to create something," Kresge said. "It was a tough turnover and a good play by them."

UVM returns to action Sunday at Maine. The 1 p.m. contest will be televised on NESN.

Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @aabrami5.

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: UVM women's basketball: First-place Stony Brook outlasts Catamounts