Vermont women’s basketball won the opening tip and took control. Catherine Gilwee drove into the paint and nailed a jumper from just inside the free-throw line.
That was just the start of one of her best games of the season.
Gilwee’s team-high 16 points was more than enough as No. 2 Vermont women’s basketball cruised to a 62-45 win over No. 3 Bryant in the America East semifinals at Patrick Gym.
“I saw my first shot go in and it just gave me a lot of confidence to keep shooting,” Gilwee said. “The more you see go in, obviously the more you want to shoot.”
With the win Vermont (20-12, 14-3) booked its third straight trip to the America East championship game.
The Catamounts will take on top seeded Albany in the America East final on Friday at 5 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPNU.
Bryant brought its band, cheerleaders and dance team to Burlington and they made Patrick Gym louder than usual. The Bulldogs’ loud student support cheers of “Defense” were easy to hear made it feel like tournament time.
“We want (a) championship atmosphere, even on home sites,” Vermont coach Alisa Kresge said. “It felt like you were sometimes in a neutral (site) and then the Vermont crowd was like you guys are being loud, we’re going to be louder.”
Gilwee, a redshirt junior, scored 11 of Vermont’s first 13 points on 5 made field goals. Gilwee’s scorching start helped Vermont build a 15-6 lead.
The Catamounts lead swelled to 21-10 at the end of the first quarter as they appeared to not have the same nerves that plagued them in the quarterfinals.
Gilwee’s 16 points led all scorers and set a new season high. She also dished out four assists.
Bryant (17-14, 9-8) never recovered from its slow start in the program’s first-ever America East semifinal.
Besides the dominant offensive output, the Catamounts have been stellar on the defensive end during this playoff run. Vermont has held their opponents to a max of 15 made field goals in two straight games.
The Catamounts controlled the glass, finishing with 33 total rebounds compared to Bryant’s 19.
Anna Olson led the Catamounts with 10 rebounds, all on the defensive end making her presence known there after just scoring 4 points.
“I don’t really care if I score,” Olson said. “I just want to do my role to the best of my abilities. I had a tough match up with Nia Scott. My mindset going into this game was I need to stop her. If I can stop her from scoring I’m going to equate that to scoring a point.”
The Catamounts have a deep roster where any player in its seven-women rotation can contribute double-digit points on any given night. Three other Catamounts joined Gilwee to cross double figures: Sarah Ericson (11 points), Nikola Priede (10 points) and Keira Hanson (10 points).
Now Vermont sits one game away from making it to its second NCAA tournament appearance in three years.
“We’re really really lucky to have amazing people in all aspects of our program from our administration to our players to our support staff and everyone’s so bought in,” Kresge said. “And that’s what’s really special about Vermont as a whole, our community, everyone really cares about each other.”
Contact Judith Altneu at jaltneu@gannett.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter: @Judith_Altneu.
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Vermont women’s basketball advances to America East final
