UVM’s women’s basketball team remains undefeated at home with a 46-44 win over the College of Holy Cross Crusaders.

Both the Catamounts and the Crusaders would start the early afternoon game hot. Both squads would convert on 50% of the shots early in the first quarter. Graduate guard Emma Utterback would score six of the 11 UVM points in the first.

After a fast start offensively, both teams would go cold in the second. The Catamounts were unable to score through the first four minutes of the quarter. However, UVM would show a strong defensive presence as they held the Crusaders to a shaky 2 for 15 shooting for the quarter.

The UVM offense would come alive late in the quarter when junior guard Bella Vito would convert the game’s lone three pointer. Senior forward Anna Olson would continue the scoring as she would convert on a tip-in basket as the buzzer sounded, tying the game at 20.

The third quarter continued the trend of strong back-and-forth play. The Catamounts would struggle shooting the ball to begin the quarter, but would later go on a 6-0 run thanks to converting off of strong defensive stops.

Utterback ended the third quarter with a runner, marking the second UVM buzzer-beater of the afternoon. The Catamounts led 30-29 at the end of the quarter.

The fourth quarter provided both strong offense and defense for the Catamounts. The Catamounts would shoot an efficient 55.5%, and also did a great job of getting to the free throw line. However, the Crusaders continued to respond.

The game would continue to go back and forth until Vito converted on a mid-range jump shot with twenty-two seconds remaining, securing the win for the Catamounts.

The Catamounts will end their short two game home stand, as they travel to West Point on Wednesday Dec. 6th, playing guest to Army.