BURLINGTON, Vt. – Redshirt-senior Niya Johnson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) logged a career-high 21 points, as the UMass Lowell women's basketball team (2-3, 1-1 AE) faced a 61-56 setback against Vermont (1-1, 1-1 AE) on Sunday afternoon.
 
"Vermont played a very good game today," commented head coach Tom Garrick. "They made some changes to their pressure-release offense, an adjustment we needed to counteract defensively. Once they got momentum, they showed a lot of maturity to hold us off. Our kids showed some fight, but we didn't have enough to get all of the way back."­­­
 
Johnson shot 53 percent (7-13) from the field and 71 percent (5-7) from outside the arc in the contest. Freshman Jaini Edmonds (Worcester, Mass.) pulled together her first double-digit performance with 10 points, and sophomore Kaylen Banwareesingh (Bronx, N.Y.) lead all River Hawks defensively with eight boards and two blocks.  
 
The teams traded baskets in the opening minutes of the contest and were tied at 10-10 through the first five. Following a pull-up jumper by sophomore Denise Solis (Windsor, Conn.), Johnson snagged a rebound off a Catamount missed triple, going coast-to-coast to put up a shot of her own to trail within one of the home team, 18-17. Unfortunately, Vermont would continue their offensive attack with a 5-0 run, pulling away 23-17 at the end of the first quarter.
 
Free throw opportunities by Vermont opened the second, but Johnson responded by hitting her second three-pointer of the day, while junior Kharis Idom (Orlando, Fla.) made a drive into the lane for her first bucket to go on a 7-4 spurt at the four-minute mark. Johnson hit her third three-point shot of the contest, helping cut the deficit 29-35 in the final minutes of the first half.
 
Opening the third off back-to-back jumpers from sophomore Shamyjha Price (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Vermont would counter with three more of their own over the next six minutes, bringing the Catamount lead to 41-36 by the third media timeout. Another short spurt by the home team would end with an Edmonds jumper as the visitors trailed 49-43, heading into the final stretch.
 
UVM extended its advantage as far as eight for the biggest lead in the contest, but free throws from Edmonds and a jump shot by Banwareesingh closed the gap to 59-56 at 0:57. However, the River Hawks were unable to come any closer in the decision.
 
UMass Lowell, who now owns a 9-6 advantage in the all-time series against Vermont, will return to action after the holiday break when they host Stony Brook for a two-game series on Sunday, Dec. 27 (1 p.m.) and Monday, Dec. 28 (1 p.m.).