Larkins breaks record, excited for her team to do more

Graduate guard Josie Larkins has enjoyed a successful fifth season with UVM women’s basketball, rising to No. 2 in program history for 3-pointers and reaching 1,000 career points.

As of Jan. 28, Larkins leads the Catamounts in scoring, averaging 12.2 points per game and is second in the America East in 3-point percentage at 40.6%.

Larkins was excited to return when she found out she had an additional year of eligibility, she said.

“I told [head coach Alisa Kresge] that I would love to come back and play another year,” Larkins said. “I had the opportunity to be in a masters program and continue my education but also still play basketball, which is what I wanted to do.”

Larkins said she felt especially motivated to return after Vermont elected to end its 2020-21 season after six games due to COVID-19 concerns. She felt returning offered a change to build on the progress of last season.

“I knew that we were going to be successful last year, but we had the shortened schedule, so I felt like it wasn’t fair, really to me or my teammates or my coaches, that we wouldn’t really be able to see how the full year would have unraveled,” Larkins said.

Larkins improved her 3-point shooting during her time at UVM. After converting fewer than 28% of her attempts in her first two seasons, she shot 33.2% from beyond the arc in 2019-20 and 41.9% in six games last season.

“I think I’m just a lot more confident in myself and I think I’ve learned to not worry about mistakes and misses as much,” Larkins said. 

Larkins said she enjoys stepping into a leadership role as an experienced player and witnessing the growth of younger players such as first-year guard Catherine Gilwee and sophomore forward Anna Olson.

“It’s definitely special,” Larkins said. “Teammates really mean a lot to me and to be able to watch them grow as I continue to grow is something that I really cherish.”

Larkins became the 23rd player in program history to reach 1,000 career points against the University of Maryland, Baltimore County on Jan. 15. A pregame ceremony at Patrick Gym on Jan. 26 honored her accomplishment.

“Sometimes I can’t believe that I did it, because it is such a crazy milestone and not many people before me have done it,” Larkins said. 

Reflecting on her time at UVM, Larkins said she felt proud of her growth on and off the basketball court.

“I’m super proud of the basketball accomplishments, but those are things that eventually at some point end,” Larkins said. “I’m really just proud of the growth that I’ve made as a person throughout this time because that’s what’s gonna keep on moving on.”

Larkins and the Catamounts (11-9, 5-4 America East) will face New Jersey Institute of Technology on Feb. 2.