Vermont charges to the WNIT final four

Vermont 67 Purdue 59

The Cats are still dancin'

The Vermont women's team exploded in the second half and punched their ticket to the WNIT Fab Four. That was the best game I have seen this group play during this incredible three year run of success. This team and this group have been so fun to watch and they have inspired my daughters to fall in love with basketball. What a testament to Coach Kresge and the players to resurrect the program. This win was such a great team win, Everything clicked in the second half. In the first half, the nerves were real and play was choppy. Vermont's tops in the nation defense kept them in the game while the offense was disjointed. Purdue was winning the battle on the boards and forcing Vermont to take tough shots. Then the Cats came out in the second half and put on a clinic. They started to smother Purdue on defense and turned the tide in the battle on the boards. Shots began to fall and pretty soon Vermont was cutting up the Purdue defense with precision passing and clutch shotmaking. A perfect 12-12 effort from the line sealed the deal and the Cats are off to their first WNIT Fab Four. 

The leader, as she has been throughout her career was Emma Utterback. She overcame a jittery first half with an amazing second. Electric in the open floor, knifing through the defense to the rim, and finding teammates for easy buckets. Utterback finished with 20 points and 6 assists in a huge performance. Keira Hanson's emergence this season has been fun to watch. At the beginning of the season, the Cats were looking for someone to step up and fill the void left by Catherine Gilwee's injury. Hanson has just blossomed into Vermont's best shotmaker and fuels so many runs with her creative shotmaking. She finished with 17 points (3-4 from three) and 5 rebounds. Bella Vito is so often the unsung hero of this team. Quietly doing a bit of everything to help the team win. Tonight she was absolutely dominant scoring 14 points, pulling down 11 rebounds, and grabbing 3 steals while playing a team high 39 minutes. So many great plays from her in this game. Anna Olson came up big with 14 points and 5 rebounds while playing great defense on the inside. Delaney Richason didn't have a big box score game but she showed off her number two all time in career blocked shots ability with 2 huge blocks and other big time defensive stops. 

What an incredible run and a amazing moment for Utterback and Richason to go back to their home state and pick up a huge win. I cannot wait for the next one. Bring on St. Louis!!