BURLINGTON, Vt. — Coming off back-to-back wins, the Dartmouth women's basketball team wasn't able to make it three straight on Thursday evening when the Big Green suffered a 58-32 loss to defending America East champion Vermont at Patrick Gymnasium.
Dartmouth dropped to 2-3 on the season, while Vermont snapped a three-game skid to improve to 4-4 and remain unbeaten at home.
Doreen Ariik narrowly missed a second straight double-double, leading the Big Green with eight points and nine rebounds, including four on the offensive end. The Catamounts were led by Delaney Richardson, who dropped a game-high 16 points. Bella Vito pulled down a game-high 10 boards.
Both teams struggled to shoot the ball early on as the game didn't see its first made 3-pointer until the second half, but that didn't stop Vermont from rolling to a 10-point edge at the end of the first quarter and eventually a 21-11 lead by halftime. The shots began falling at a higher clip for the Catamounts in the third quarter, allowing them to score 23 points and create an insurmountable 44-24 lead heading into the fourth.
Cate MacDonald's first-quarter and-one gave the Big Green some early momentum, but Vermont's Emma Utterback followed suit in the final seconds of the first to energize the Catamount crowd and hand Dartmouth its first double-digit deficit of the game.
Vermont native
Mekkena Boyd sank a jumper at the 2:45 mark of the second quarter to cut the lead to single digits before Utterback responded with the final bucket of the half to bring the lead back to 10.
Ariik opened the scoring in the third, but her basket preceded an 18-6 Catamount run that allowed the hosts to pull away. The Big Green were never able to come back within 20 in the fourth quarter.
Following the loss, Dartmouth returns home for the first time Nov. 14 when it hosts UC Riverside for a Monday matinee on Dec. 4. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+. Fans can also follow live stats and listen to an audio broadcast, both available via DartmouthSports.com.