WEST HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- Courtnay Pilypaitis scored 20 points and
Vermont earned a berth in the NCAA tournament Saturday night with a
55-50 upset win over No. 21 Hartford.
Alissa Sheftic added 10
points and eight rebounds for the Catamounts (26-6), who have won 10 of
their last 11 games to secure their second consecutive America East
title. Vermont's only loss in that string came to Hawks in the
regular-season finale, 61-51 on Feb. 27.
But Hartford had to play
this one without senior leader Erica Beverly, who suffered a
season-ending tear to the ACL in her right knee in a semifinal win over
Stony Brook. Diana Delva had 18 points for Hartford (27-4), which had
won 20 games in a row, and went undefeated through the conference's
regular season.
Without the 6-foot Beverly in the lineup Vermont
had its way underneath, building an 18-point halftime lead, during which
they outrebounded Hartford 23-12. They ended the game with a 43-34
rebounding advantage.
Vermont used an 18-1 run to turn an early
9-6 deficit into a 27-10 lead with just under 6 minutes left in the
first half. The Hawks were held to just a free throw for 9 minutes and
went over 10 1/2 minutes without a field goal. They hit just four of
their first 16 shots from the field.
May Kotsopoulos hit a
3-pointer from the left baseline at the halftime buzzer to give the
Catamounts a 35-17 lead at halftime.
The Hawks turned up the
defense in the second half, holding Vermont to 18 percent shooting after
intermission. Hartford used an 11-2 run to cut an 18-point second half
deficit to 42-33 with under 12 minutes left.
After Vermont pushed
the lead back to 14, Delva led the Hawks on a 15-4 run. She blocked two
shots and then converted a 3-point play at the other end with 4:21 left
that cut the lead to 51-46.
Delva had six of Hartford's 11 blocked
shots, which set a record for the championship game.
Hartford's
Jackie Smith hit a pair of free throws with 26.6 seconds left to cut it
to 54-50.
But Alex Hall missed a 3-point shot that would have made
it a 1-point game with 7 seconds left and Sofia Iwobi hit a free throw
for Vermont's final point.
Beverly, who averaged 9 points and 7
rebounds a game, had 14 points when the teams met on Jan. 26 and 13 in
the season finale, both Hartford wins.Vermont's win gave the
Catamounts a sweep of the men's and women's America East tournaments,
the first time a single school has won both since 1988.
The loss
snapped Hartford's 20-game winning streak, which was the fourth longest
in the nation behind Princeton (21), Nebraska (30), and Connecticut's
record 72-game run.
The game was the first final between the
conference's top two seeds since 2000, and the 55th meeting between the
two schools.
Hartford came in having won four of the last five
meetings, losing last year to the Catamounts in the tournament
semifinals. The Hawks swept the regular season series, winning 38-36 in
Burlington on Jan. 26 and 61-51 in Hartford on Feb 27.
All-Tournament Team
Alex Young, Boston U.
Kirsten Jeter, Stony Brook
Diana Delva, Hartford
Alissa Sheftic, Vermont
Courtnay Pilypaitis, Vermont
Most Outstanding Player Award: Courtnay Pilypaitis, Vermont