Photo Credit: Cyril Brunner
FINAL SCORE: Vermont 72, Laval 43 | Box Score | Photos | Highlights: Catamounts TV | You Tube

BURLINGTON, Vt. – Senior Courtnay Pilypaitis (Ottawa, Ontario) scored a game-high 27 points to lead the Vermont Catamounts past Laval in a women's basketball preseason game at Patrick Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.

Fellow senior May Kotsopoulos (Waterloo, Ontario) added 14 points and four steals, while freshman Lauren Buschmann (St. Catharines, Ontario) and senior Sofia Iwobi (Fairfield, Iowa) combined for 27 rebounds for the Catamounts.

With the score knotted up at 11 with 12:52 remaining in the first half, a lay up by Buschmann ignited a 19-5 run to give Vermont a 30-16 advantage at the half.

Both teams struggled shooting the ball in the first half. UVM shot 21.6 percent from the field and Laval went 5-for-25 (20%) from the floor.

Pilypaitis opened the second half with a three-pointer and lay up in back-to-back possessions and UVM started the stanza with a 22-2 run to push the score to 60-18, for Vermont's largest lead of the game, with 10:05 left in the contest.

Buschmann added six points and was one of two newcomers to start, joining Kendra Seto (Oshawa, Ontario). All 11 players who were available to play saw time on the floor.

Marie-Michelle Genois led Laval with a double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Marie-Pascal Nadeau also chipped in 10 points for the Red and Gold.

Vermont will host Franklin Pierce on Saturday (Nov. 7) at 4:30 p.m. at Patrick Gymnasium. The game is part of a basketball doubleheader as the Vermont men's team will host Saint Michael's at 1 p.m.

The women's game will be broadcast on WVMT-620 AM and on the Internet at SportsJuice.com. Live video of the game will also be available on a pay-per-view basis ($7) via B2 Networks.