The second-seeded University of Maine’s women’s basketball team got off to the start it wanted in its America East championship game against top seed Vermont, racing out to a 9-2 lead at the Patrick Gymnasium in Burlington.
But the defending champion Catamounts rattled off a 19-5 run spanning the first and second quarters and never looked back en route to a 61-43 victory and its third conference tourney title in four years.
UMaine beat the Catamounts in the 2023-24 championship game in Orono.
The Catamounts improved to 27-7 and have qualified for the NCAA Division I Tournament. They will find out who their first-round opponent is during Sunday night’s tournament selection show.
Vermont extended its winning streak to five games and has won eight of its last nine games.
UMaine’s loss snapped its five-game winning streak and the Black Bears had won nine of their last 10.
UMaine concluded a 19-13 campaign and could receive an opportunity to play in one of the three other tournaments for teams that fail to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
“I told the players after the game that I thought Vermont was the best team in the league all season and they were tonight,” said UMaine coach Amy Vachon. “Their seniors led them. They played really well tonight.
“I was really proud of our team. They have grown a lot,” added Vachon.
UMaine is now 1-12 in conference tournament games against a top seed.
The 43 points scored by the Black Bears is their second lowest total against an America East opponent. They lost to NJIT 63-42 in Newark on Feb. 14.
Vermont came into the game allowing just 51.9 points per game, the fourth-lowest among 359 Division I schools. The Catamounts’ 3-point shooting defense (25.1 percent) was third-best.
“Their defense was really good. After we took the 9-2 lead, we went into retreat mode but Vermont makes you play that way,” said Vachon.
The Catamounts led by eight at the half and outscored UMaine 19-10 in the third period to build a comfortable 17-point lead that was never challenged.
UVM shot 46.2 percent from the floor through the first three quarters including a blistering 15-for-23 showing from two-point range to compensate for its 3-for-16 performance beyond the 3-point arc.
Meanwhile, the cold-shooting Black Bears were just 11-for-41 from the floor (26.9 percent) including a 3-for-12 showing from long distance over the first 30 minutes.
Senior guard and first team All-America East selection Keira Hanson, whose jumper with two seconds left in the first overtime forced a second overtime in UVM’s double-overtime victory over the University of Maryland Baltimore County in the semifinals, poured in a game-high 23 points to lead all scorers.
The first team All-America East pick also had three rebounds, two blocked shots and an assist. She shot 9-for-13 from the floor and 3-for-4 beyond the 3-point arc.
Senior center and All-America East Defensive Player of the Year Nikola Priede had 14 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots and guards Malia Lenz and Jadyn Weltz had 11 points each with Lenz grabbing 13 rebounds.
Two-time America East Player of the Year Adrianna Smith paced the Black Bears with 22 points, 15 rebounds and four assists. It was her 20th double-double of the season and 57th of her remarkable career.
She is the nation’s only player with 1,000-plus career points, 1,000-plus rebounds and 400-plus assists.
She was the only Black Bear in double figures and the only other Black Bears with more than two points were Lala Woods with eight and Asta Blauenfeldt with seven.
Vermont finished the game shooting 46.2 percent from the floor and 17.6 percent from beyond the 3-point arc compared to UMaine’s 28.8 percent and 18.8 percent from distance.
Vermont outscored UMaine in the paint 34-20 and 9-2 off turnovers.
Hanson hit a pair of threes to cap a run of eight straight points and give Vermont a 10-9 lead and, after Smith hit a jumper, the Catamounts closed out the first quarter with a pair of baskets from Priede to take a 14-11 lead they would never relinquish.
A Lenz layup and jump shot and then a traditional 3-point play by Hanson off a layup and foul extended the lead to 21-11 and UMaine couldn’t get any closer than eight the rest of the way.
A Blauenfeldt 3-pointer finished out the first half to pull UMaine within 29-21 but the Catamounts opened up a comfortable 17-point lead by outscoring UMaine 11-2 to open the third period and were never threatened.
UMaine did rally to within 12 late in the third period but a Hanson 3-pointer closed out the quarter to supply UVM with a comfortable 48-31 cushion entering the final 10 minutes.