BURLINGTON, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College women's basketball team lost to Division I University of Vermont, 59-49, in an exhibition game on Wednesday in Patrick Gymnasium. The Catamounts won three of the past four America East Conference Tournaments to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS
- Junior Margaret Montplaisir (Portsmouth, N.H./Portsmouth), 12 points, 5 assists, 2 steals
- Senior Bella Franchi (Colonie, N.Y./Colonie Central), 11 points, 4 steals, 3-for-4 three-pointers
- Sophomore Natalie Beaudoin (Lewiston, Maine/Lewiston/Franklin Pierce), 8 points, 4 rebounds in 15 minutes, 2-for-5 three-pointers
- Senior Ruby Santos (New Paltz, N.Y./Kent School), 6 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals
- Sophomore Shannon McCarthy (Woburn, Mass./Woburn Memorial/New Haven), 5 rebounds
OPPONENT LEADERS
- Graduate student Catherine Gilwee, 14 points, 3 assists, 2 steals, 6-for-9 field goals
- Sophomore Jacklynn Hosier, 13 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals
- Senior Malia Lenz, 12 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks, 4-for-5 field goals
THE ACTION
- The Purple Knights led for more than eight minutes during the opening quarter, using triples by Franchi and Montplaisir to go up 8-2 by 6:31. The hosts never led, sending the teams into the first break tied at 11 thanks to first-year Neta Mayshar's jumper with 26 seconds to go.
- The teams exchanged the lead four times in the first 1:16 of the second stanza, with Beaudoin's three-pointer pushing the advantage to 19-15 by 8:02.
- Gilwee hit a tying three with 2:22 left (22-22) before the teams traded four free throws apiece, and Beaudoin drilled a tiebreaking three at the buzzer to give Saint Michael's a 29-26 lead heading into intermission.
- Gilwee knocked down a three 19 seconds after the break to spark a 9-0 run, and her banked-in jumper made it 39-32 at 1:48 of the third quarter, breaking a 3:34 scoreless drought by both teams. Sophomore Madison Hall knocked down a pair of threes 28 seconds apart in the final minute to give the Catamounts a 45-36 lead at the end of the frame.
- Taylor's three-pointer brought Saint Michael's within 49-43 by 6:15 of the fourth quarter, but sophomore Savanna Creal had six points in an 8-0 run that pushed the lead to 57-43 with 3:08 left.
- Three straight buckets in a 1:20 span had the Purple Knights down eight on senior Ashlee Talbot's (Dracut, Mass./Dracut) baseline jumper with 1:28 left, but the visitors came no closer.
NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S GAME
- Nov. 9 at Caldwell University, 5 p.m.
