Box Score
Post-Game Interview with Mary Gleason (video)
HOUSTON – In a tie game midway through the second half, visiting Vermont used a 15-3 run to pull away from Houston Baptist, as the Huskies fell to UV, 60-47, on the opening day of the Husky Classic Friday evening.
Devyn Weymouth finished two points shy of her career mark, as she scored a team-high 14 for HBU (0-5), as she was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line.
Shanice Steenholdt had a huge night for the Huskies, as she scored 14 points, grabbed seven rebounds and had one assist, two blocks and three steals.
Joselyn Pugh scored seven points, hitting 50 percent from the floor (3-of-6) as she had five rebounds and set a new personal best with five steals.
Niki Taylor, the reigning America East Rookie of the Week, led Vermont (5-1) with 15 points and 14 rebounds, as the Catamounts had 22 offensive rebounds. Lauren Buschmann finished second with 13 rebounds and scored just five points, well below her average of 16.0 ppg this season.
Vermont scored the game's first four points before HBU cut the deficit to one on a three-pointer by
Brittany Barton at the 17:02-mark of the first half. After Barton's score, the Catamounts went on an 8-0 run to lead by nine, 12-3, as Kayla Burchill hit two 3s for UV.
HBU then scored seven straight to trail by just two, 12-10, at the 9:08-mark of the opening half.
Maisie Elston hit a three and the ensuing Catamount drive was halted by a turnover caused by Steenholdt. Forty-two seconds later, Weymouth hit two free throws. A layup by Sam Simononis with nine minutes remaining in the half halted the Husky run, as UV led 14-10.
The two teams went back and forth, as Vermont led by seven, only to see the Huskies score to bring it back to five, only to see UV score again to bring the lead back up to seven.
After Steenholdt hit one of two free throws to bring the Huskies to within six with 4:40 remaining in the first half, Shanai Heber made a layup to give Vermont its largest lead of the half at eight, 24-16. The Huskies would close out the opening half on a 4-0 run to find themselves down by four, 24-20.
Steenholdt led the Huskies in the first half with six points and was tied with Pugh for the team lead in rebounds, with four. Burchill led Vermont with six points while Bushchmann had 11 of her 13 rebounds in the first half.
Vermont started the second half on an 8-2 run to lead, 30-22, before the Huskies went on an 8-0 run themselves to tie UV, 30-all, with 14:26 remaining in the second half. Weymouth had four of the eight points, while Steenholdt and Pugh had two each.
Taylor then took over for the Catamounts, as she scored six straight points, as Vermont went on a 15-3 run to take a 45-33 lead with just under nine minutes left in the second half.
Tayler Jefferson's three at the 7:36-minute mark stopped the bleeding, as the Huskies trailed UV by nine, 45-36.
After the teams traded free throws and Taylor hit a jumper to give the visitors a 48-38 advantage with 5:48 remaining, the Huskies picked up the defensive pressure, with three consecutive steals resulting in six straight points for the Huskies, as they found themselves down just four, 48-44, with 2:20 remaining in the game.
The Huskies couldn't get any closer and were forced to intentionally foul. Vermont took advantage of the free throws, making six, as Lauren Wheeler's two with six seconds remaining concluded the scoring and gave Vermont its largest lead of the night, at 60-47.
HBU will conclude the Husky Classic against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 5:30 pm. The Islanders lost to Texas Southern in the opener of the tournament earlier today, 63-54.
