BURLINGTON, Vt. – The UMass Lowell women's basketball team hung tough but could not complete the comeback, as the Vermont Catamounts came away with a 63-55 win the teams' America East opener on Wednesday night.
 
For the second straight game, Brianna Rudolph (Lynn, Mass.) led the River Hawks (3-11, 0-1 AE) with 13 points, and Kayla Gibbs (Teaneck, N.J.) picked up her eighth double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
 
Hanna Crymble led all scorers with 16 points for the Catamounts (4-10, 1-0 AE), and Sydney Smith added 15 in the effort.
 
Behind a 4-0 run to start the game and 6-of-8 shooting early on, the River Hawks jumped out to a 13-7 lead at the first media timeout. Vermont scored the next eight points in less than two minutes second span to take its first lead at 15-13 with 3:08 to play in the first.
 
Paula Lopez (Leon, Spain) capped off a 5-0 run overlapping the quarters with a three to open the second to knot the game up at 19-19. Both teams traded baskets until the Catamounts took a 29-23 lead with 4:16 left in the half. Following a scoreless drought of nearly two minutes for both teams, Saoirse Power-Cassidy (Dublin, Ireland) connected on a triple, sparking a 7-4 run for UMass Lowell to climb within 33-30 at the half.
 
Following a pair of late free throws, Gibbs led the visitors at the break with six points. Each of the three internationals chipped in five points a piece in the first 20 minutes.
 
The Catamounts came out of the break and scored eight of the first 10 points to open a 41-32 advantage in the first six minutes of the second half. Back-to-back threes in 30 seconds for the hosts extended the lead to 47-34 with 80 seconds left in the frame.
 
Gibbs reached double-figures with a pair of layups in the final minute of the third to bring the River Hawks within 49-38 to start the fourth. Linda Svenne (Riga, Latvia) went on a 4-0 run on her own to trim the gap to eight points, 50-42, just a minute into the frame.
 
UMass Lowell continued on to a 7-1 run and trailed 50-45 with 5:39 left in regulation. A Jennifer Louro (Belmar, N.J.) three from distance added to the run, and made it a two-point game but the visitors could not draw back even.
 
The River Hawks welcome the Hartford Hawks to Tsongas in UMass Lowell's conference home opener on January 10 at 7 p.m.