BURLINGTON, VT – The UMass Lowell women's basketball team (3-16, 3-4 AE)) fell to the Vermont Catamounts (13-7, 5-0 AE) 62-53 on Thursday afternoon at Patrick Gym.
 
Redshirt-junior Sydney Watkins (Indianapolis, In.) led the squad with 16 points on 6-8 shooting. Watkins went 4-6 from the free throw line and added one assist and one rebound. Freshman Cire Worley (Philadelphia, Penn.) scored 10 points off the bench, shooting 4-6 and 2-2 from three to go with four rebounds. Freshmen Rayne Durant (New Haven, Conn.) and Maddie Rice (Charlottesville, Va.) combined for 13 points and grabbed five and six rebounds, respectively.
 
Watkins and Durant got on the board to answer two early Vermont baskets. The River Hawks had active hands at the start and forced two quick turnovers, but a scoreless drought of over three minutes had UMass Lowell behind by four at the midway mark of the first. Scores from Leilani Rodriguez and Watkins and good defensive work got the River Hawks within two after 10 minutes.
 
Vermont opened the second quarter with a 6-2 run to push the lead to six, but Cire Worley answered with her first triple of the afternoon. Maddie Rice's tough layup once again answered a Catamount score to make it 18-15 at the second media.
 
The River Hawks held Vermont scoreless for two minutes and cut the lead to one before a pair of free throws pushed the lead back to three. The Catamounts closed the quarter on a 6-0 run and led 26-19 at the half.
 
Out of the halftime break, Vermont scored two early baskets to push the lead to 11, forcing UMass Lowell to call a timeout one minute into the half. A pair of free throws from Watkins right out of the timeout broke a scoreless drought of over four minutes for the River Hawks. After a stop on the defensive end, Watkins' three-point play brought the visitors back within six. Vermont pushed the lead back to seven at the third media.
 
Another 7-0 run for the Catamounts stretched the lead to 12 before Rodriguez came up with a much-needed jumper. Rayne Durant followed with a layup to bring the deficit back to single digits. Another jumper from Rodriguez made it a nine-point game after three.
 
as Vermont opened a 13-point lead three minutes into the final frame. Graduate student Mili Carrera's (Lima, Peru) three with 6:45 to play gave UMass Lowell life, now trailing by ten. UMass Lowell got another big three from Cire Worley before Mili Carrera's second triple of the day made it a four-point game.
 
Watkins scored four points late in the quarter, once again bringing the River Hawks within six with one minute to go. Despite a late push, Vermont hit free throws down the stretch and secured the victory. UMass Lowell shot 7-16 from the field and 3-5 from three in the fourth quarter. The River Hawks scored 34 points in the second half, but the comeback effort fell short.
 
Next up, the River Hawks visit Maine on February 1. Tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m. in Orono.