Vermont basketball: Catamount men rally, UVM women clamp down in road victories

The University of Vermont men's and women's basketball teams headed home Wednesday night with a pair of well-earned nonconference victories.

The Vermont women relied on their defense to clamp down on Army for a 62-42 triumph while a shorthanded Vermont men's squad rallied from a double-digit first-half deficit to knock off Northeastern with a late run in a 73-71 win.

Read on below for details from Wednesday's games:

Vermont women's basketball stomps Army

The UVM women stretched its win streak to three games in a row in besting Army at West Point.

Emma Utterback again led the Catamounts (6-4) with 18 points, five assists and a pair of steals over 33 minutes. Vermont held Army to just five points on 13% shooting in the fourth quarter to pull away with the win as Anna Olson (9 points, 5 rebounds) started the frame with an and-one finish that pushed the advantage to 11.

"Playing on the road is always tough, especially at Army. They are a tough team, and they play hard," UVM coach Alisa Kresge said in a statement. "I thought we matched their intensity and were able to come away with a win tonight."

Sophomore center Nikola Priede had a career-high 13 points over 23 minutes off the bench. The Latvia native has seen increased time this season after appearing in just 10 games last winter.

The Catamounts shot 48.2% (27 of 56) from the floor and 21.4% from beyond the arc.

Kya Smith paced Army (2-6) with 11 points.

Vermont, who has four nonconference games remaining, is staying in New York through Saturday as they play in Riverdale against Manhattan on Saturday at noon.

Undermanned Vermont men's basketball rallies at Northeastern

Without the services of starters Matt Veretto and Shamir Bogues, the Vermont men sank 15 3-pointers and handed out 18 assists to storm back and beat Northeastern in the teams' first matchup since 2018.

TJ Long drilled the game-tying 3-pointer with 3:12 to play and then knocked down another triple to break a 66-all game with 1:09 to go to highlight the Catamounts' late surge. Vermont had trailed 62-53 with 9:53 to play before ripping off its decisive run for a second straight dramatic victory following the last-second heroics vs. Yale.

Long, who went for 23 points and the winning four-point play against Yale, registered another 23-point outing on 8 of 15 shooting and five triples, to go with six rebounds and three assists.

The Catamounts also trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half.

Aaron Deloney struck for 15 points, bolstered by a trio of 3-pointers, and eight assists while Nick Fiorillo added 14 points and five assists. TJ Hurley tossed in nine points.

After Ileri Ayo-Faleye sank two foul shots for a 71-68 UVM advantage with 30 seconds to go, Sam Alamutu had a big defensive stop at the rim in the closing seconds. Long then went 2-for-2 at the foul line and Northeastern's Jared Turner drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the final margin.

For Northeastern (4-6), Chris Doherty struck for 21 points and Masai Troutman scored 15 points.

Veretto (eye) and Bogues (foot/ankle), who combined are averaging 25.4 points a game, will ruled out before tip-off due to injury. They remain day-to-day, according to a UVM spokesperson.

Vermont (8-2), which hosts Colgate on Saturday afternoon, is off to its best start through 10 games since the 1956-57 season.

Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @aabrami5.

Contact Jacob Rousseau at JRousseau@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter: @ByJacobRousseau.

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Vermont men's, women's basketball teams record road victories