LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell women's basketball team (4-24, 4-12 AE) fell to the Vermont Catamounts (20-10, 12-4 AE) 55-51 in the regular season finale at the Tsongas Center on Saturday afternoon.
 
Prior to tip-off, the River Hawks honored seniors Baylee Teal (Penfield, N.Y.), Sydney Coombs (Newmarket, N.H), Leilani Rodriguez (Worcester, Mass.) and graduate student Mili Carrera (Lima, Peru) in a special senior day ceremony.
 
Rodriguez led the squad with 16 points, going 6-11 from the field and 3-3 from three. Carrera added 14 on 5-10 shooting to go with four rebounds. Redshirt junior Sydney Watkins (Indianapolis, IN) was all over the scoresheet with 10 points and team-highs with six rebounds and five steals.
 
Vermont scored on the opening possession, but the River Hawks put together back-to-back stops early in the game. UMass Lowell got the offense going with a three from Leilani Rodriguez and a tough layup from Sydney Watkins. Vermont led 6-5 at the first media.
 
Out of the break, the Catamounts went on a 5-0 run to take the lead. Maddie Rice battled in the paint and got the layup to fall to break the run and end a scoreless drought for UMass Lowell. The visitors hit a shot late in the quarter and led by eight after 10 minutes.
 
Abbey Lindsey's jumper got the River Hawks started in the second and back-to-back stops on the defensive end gave the hosts life. Mili Carrera's three-point play cut the lead to three as UMass Lowell opened a 5-0 run. Lindsey made another nice move in the paint to make it a one-possession game. Vermont answered and led 23-16 at the second media.
 
Watkins drove to the lane right out of the break to score a much-needed basket for the hosts. Mili Carrera hit a big three with just over a minute to play in the half to cut the lead to two points. The graduate student came up with a three-point play after a beautiful pass from Baylee Teal to give the River Hawks their first lead of the day. Vermont answered with a three, but Watkins' floater beat the buzzer to send the teams into the half tied at 26.
 
Vermont took the lead in the third quarter, but both sides struggled to hit shots consistently. The River Hawks' defense was solid, keeping the Catamounts off the board and frustrating their offense.  Sydney Coombs hit two at the line to bring UMass Lowell within three at the media.
 
The River Hawks came up with back-to-back stops out of the break and got a big three from Rodriguez to tie the game at 33. Sydney Watkins' steal led to free throws, where the redshirt junior knocked down both shots to give UMass Lowell the lead. Back-and-forth action in the final two minutes saw the teams head into the fourth quarter tied.
 
The final frame was a physical battle in the paint. Vermont led by four before Maddie Rice's jumper cut the deficit back to two. UMass Lowell's defense was all over the Catamounts, forcing a shot clock violation just before the final media timeout with the visitors ahead.
 
Vermont stretched the lead to six points out of the break as the game approached the final three minutes. Rodriguez got hot late in the game, hitting two big shots to keep the River Hawks within four as the hosts called timeout. Sydney Watkins' steal-and-score on Vermont's inbound attempt made it a two-point game. Rodriguez hit a three with 4.5 to go to make it 53-51 but Vermont hit their free throws late to hang on for the win.
 
The River Hawks will get ready for the America East Tournament, scheduled to begin on Friday, March 8.