After defeating #6 seed Maine 70-57, the third seeded Vermont Catamounts could not rally past the UMBC Retrievers, losing 67-56.

Against Maine, Vermont used a 26-7 run to close out the final nine minutes of the game and surge into the semifinals of the conference tournament.

Courtnay Pilypaitis led Vermont, finishish with 23 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and seven steals. She was named America East player of the game.

Sophomore Amy Rosencrantz recorded 13 points and six rebounds.

Freshman May Kotsopoulos contributed 12 points and sophomore Andrea Cihal chipped in nine points, eight rebounds, and four blocks.

“Our game plan was to keep pushing the tempo and keep believing in ourselves,” head coach Sharon Dawley said. “We missed some easy shots early, but had the confidence to keep shooting and continue to work and stuck with the plan.

“We had a lot of fun out there today.”

Vermont’s defense came to play, forcing 24 Maine turnovers in the game.

Unfortunately, the Cats’ season came to a close in the semifinal round at the hands of UMBC.

Amanda Robinson led the Retrievers with 21 points and eight rebounds.

Vermont trailed by seven with just under four minutes left in the first half, but Pilypaitis rattled off 11 straight points to give the Catamounts a 28-27 lead going into the break.

Pilypaitis had 19 points in the game, Kotsopoulos added 10 points, and Rosencrantz contributed nine points and 11 rebounds.

The game marked the end of the careers of senior captains Alison Brown and Brittney Cross.

Cross scored six points, grabbed four rebounds, and added four assists.

Cross has played 102 games for UVM and earlier this season became the seventh Catamount in school history to tally over 500 points, 200 rebounds, 200 assists and 150 steals.

“I’m disappointed we don’t have another game to play,” Dawley said. “I’m not disappointed with what we accomplished this season.”

“Brittney and Alison provided this team with tremen-dous leadership all year for our 10 freshmen and sophomores,” Dawley said.

The Catamounts, predicted to finish eighth in the preseason polls finished third in the America East Conference.

They posted a 19-12 record overall, the most wins since 2002-03.