Vermont women's basketball holds off defending champion Albany
Anna Olson started the break with a denial, Catherine Gilwee dished to Emma Utterback, and the talented senior guard carved through the University at Albany defense finishing with a scoop layup.
On the next possession, Olson positioned on the offensive block, secured a post feed from Gilwee and took one dribble across the paint.
Olson’s left-handed score polished off the sequence and the Great Danes as the University of Vermont women’s basketball team seized a late 10-point lead and held for a 53-49 America East Conference win in front of 1,286 at Patrick Gym on Saturday afternoon.
Vermont (16-6, 8-2) pushed its winning streak to eight in a row, its longest since the 2007-08 Catamount squad captured nine straight during a 24-win campaign.
“They know that they're talented and in some ways that can get in your way,” UVM coach Alisa Kresge said of the Catamounts. “I think they realize that they need to do the little things and play hard and give a little extra effort. We can be successful with the talent that we have.”
More:'That's my girl': How UVM's Gilwee, Utterback forged America East's best backcourt
Olson posted a game-high 19 points on 8 of 15 shooting, while collecting six rebounds over 35 minutes that included the decisive four-point swing.
Albany (15-10, 9-2), which beat Vermont in last year’s conference semifinals and 60-46 to open conference play this winter, pulled within three points with 31 seconds left in regulation on Morgan Haney’s basket inside. But Vermont forced three missed shots, including a block by Delaney Richason, to hold for the win.
“The first game for us was pretty rough, I mean we lost by quite a bit and I kind of took it to heart,” Olson said of the Dec. 29 conference opener at Albany.
Vermont now moves into a tie for second place in the conference with Maine and are one back of Albany with six games left.
“I think a lot of that comes down to the mental toughness of this team (it) was really growing and showing,” Kresge said of the Catamounts holding Albany off. “Because there's other times early in the season, I felt like we kind of hung our heads and we didn't realize, let's just go get a stop. That's the only way to respond.”
Richason connected on three 3s in the first half to pace the Cats and finished with 14 points and three steals. Utterback added 10 points and six assists over a game-high 37 minutes. Sophomore guard Bella Vito had five steals and four rebounds.
UVM caused a season-high 18 turnovers against conference opponents, tying a mark it reached in overtime against Bryant. UVM added 13 points off the extra possessions.
For defending conference champion Albany, Kayla Cooper tallied 18 points, along with 10 rebounds and Helene Haegerstrand added 11 points.
Vermont plays host to Maine on Feb. 8.
Contact Jacob Rousseau at JRousseau@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter: @ByJacobRousseau
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Vermont women's basketball holds off America East champion Albany
