Storrs, Conn.-- The Vermont Catamounts fell to the University of Connecticut, 104-65, Sunday in an NCAA first-round bout at Gampel Pavilion. Vermont junior guard Courtnay Pilypaitis scored a team-high 24 points to lead the Catamounts in their fifth all-time appearance in the NCAA Championship.
UConn center Tina Charles led the Huskies with a game-high 32 points and collected 11 rebounds in the victory. Connecticut, the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament, moves to 34-0 on the season and won its 25th straight NCAA Tournament game at Gampel Pavilion. The Huskies will face the winner of the Temple-Florida game being played this afternoon on Tuesday night.
Vermont, who was seeded 16th in the tournament, finishes the 2008-09 season with a 21-12 overall record after capturing the 2009 America East Women's Basketball Championship.
The 48-point loss was the largest margin of defeat for the Catamounts this season, but they were able to put together some offense in the second-half against the team favored to win the National Championship this year. After scoring 22 points in the first half, Vermont came together for 43 points in the second stanza. Pilypaitis scored 16 of her 24 points in the last 20 minutes of the game, and senior walk-on Sarah Madey came off the bench to hit two three-pointers late in the game. She finished with six points and two rebounds.
“The thing that comes to mind is how proud I am of our ladies today,
playing the top team in the country," said Vermont head coach Sharon Dawley after the game. "I think that we came out a little
timid at the beginning, but we kept fighting. There were a lot of
opportunities where, I think, some people would have had a little quit
in them and there was no quit on anyone on our team. No quit from
people on the floor; no quit from people on the bench. It was great to
see. Everyone wants to win the NCAA’s, but if you can’t win the NCAA’s
then get some moral victories along the way and we had a great one
today."
Senior Andrea Cihal, one of six Catamount seniors playing in their final collegiate game, played in her 122nd career game, tying the school's all-time record for games played. She finished second on the team with 10 points and two blocks. Madey, Amy Rosenkrantz, Sy Janousek, Kelli Poles and Jill Rademacher are the other five members of the senior class who finished with the most wins (73) than any other class since 1996.
Also in action Sunday afternoon across town, Hartford dropped a second-round WNIT game to St. John's, 70-59, and fell to 1-2 all-time in WNIT postseason play. Senior guard MaryLynne Schaefer and freshman guard Ilicia Mathis both tallied a team-high 14 points, while junior center Diana Delva collected seven rebounds to lead the team in that category.
Three seniors--Schaefer, Lisa Etienne and Katie Kelley--played in their final collegiate game for the Hawks. This year marks the first in which this senior class did not win a postseason game at Hartford, however they still graduate as one of the most successful classes in program history, finishing with a 101-30 mark and winning two NCAA Tournament games.
America East teams are now 6-10 in the postseason WNIT all-time. Boston University is still alive this season and will travel across town to play Boston College Monday night at 7 p.m. for a second-round WNIT game. The winner of that game will play St. John's at a time and date to be determined. The Terriers, who received the league's automatic berth to the WNIT, already defeated Central Connecticut last Thursday to give America East a postseason victory for the fourth consecutive year.