Vermont women’s basketball (17-12, 12-3) picked up where it left off at UMass Lowell on Feb. 22.
In the second half against the Riverhawks, the Catamounts shot over 50% from the field. That continued on Thursday as Vermont registered a blistering 66.7% from the field in the first quarter against NJIT (11-17, 8-7) in front of the 740 fans at Patrick Gym.
Vermont was even better from beyond the arc matching its total of 3-pointers they made at UMass Lowell with four in the first quarter alone.
Vermont’s offense was clicking for all 40 minutes in its second to last game of the regular season. The Catamounts blew out NJIT 75-43 to earn the series sweep.
“We don’t want to lose ever so we just come out the same like it’s every other game and we know we want to go into the playoffs with momentum,” senior Bella Vito said.
While the Catamounts 3-point shooting cooled off, that didn’t stop the short-range game. Vermont put together its fourth best field goal percentage game of the season shooting 55%.
Anna Olson, Vito, Catherine Gilwee and Keira Hanson each recorded multiple assists as part of the teams 18 total.
“Every guard can take up the ball,” Vito said. “So when every guard is doing that we’re pretty dangerous.”
Vito (14), Olson (13), Sarah Ericson (11) and Hanson (10) all reached double figures for the Catamounts. Nikola Priede finished with 8 points including a buzzer beating mid-range jumper to close out the second quarter.
“Our goal is four which we had tonight which was great,” coach Alisa Kresge said. “We got to have a lot of weapons on the floor. This is a very good league they can take away one or two.”
Ericson also finished the game with a double-double, her first at the Division I level. Vermont’s bench contributed 27 points with many of the younger Catamounts getting valuable minutes in the rout.
The Catamounts close out the regular season Saturday at home against UMBC where Vermont will celebrate its seniors. Saturday won’t be Olson, Vito or Ericson’s last games at Patrick Gym as Vermont has already clinched a top-two seed in the America East tournament which means hosting at least two playoff games.
“The special thing about where we’re at right now is it’s not their last game in Patrick so I hope we can use that to calm us,” Kresge said.
Vermont basketball avoids upset with second half comeback
The Vermont men’s basketball team did not have as easy of time dispatching NJIT as the women. The Catamounts entered halftime trailing 30-29 after shooting just 5-of-9 from the free throw line while the Highlanders made 6-of-7 attempts.
Vermont (18-11, 11-3) was dominant driving towards the paint scoring 18 second half paint points to earn a 71-61 victory over NJIT (5-24, 2-12). The Catamounts also got to the free throw line 18 times over the final 20 minutes, converting 13 of those.
Vermont extends its winning streak to seven games. Shamir Bogues led all scorers with 22 points while Ileri Ayo-Faleye contributed 14 points and led the team in rebounds (9) and blocks (6). Nick Fiorillo was the other Catamount to reach double figures scoring 12 points.
Tariq Francis led the Highlanders in scoring with 20 points and Ari Fulton had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Contact Judith Altneu at jaltneu@gannett.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter: @Judith_Altneu.
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Vermont women’s basketball sweeps season series against NJIT
