Photo Credit: Cyril Brunner
FINAL SCORE: Vermont 90, Franklin Pierce 73 | Box Score | Highlights : Catamounts TV | You Tube | Photos

BURLINGTON, Vt. – Seniors May Kotsopoulos (Waterloo, Ontario) and Courtnay Pilypaitis (Ottawa, Ontario) each scored 24 points to lead Vermont past Franklin Pierce, 90-73, at Patrick Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. It was the final preseason game for the Catamounts as they begin the regular season on Friday (Nov. 13) in Raleigh, N.C.

At the 7:23 mark of the first half, UVM led 34-32. A lay up by freshman Kendra Seto (Oshawa, Ontario) ignited a 12-3 Catamount run, which was capped with another lay up from newcomer Morgan Albert (Brighton, Mich.), to push Vermont's lead to 13, 48-35 with 3:15 remaining in the stanza.

The Catamounts headed into halftime with a 53-43 advantage after shooting 66.7 percent from the floor and 72.7 percent from three-point range (8-for-11).

Franklin Pierce scored five quick points to open the second half and cut Vermont's lead in half. But four consecutive buckets, 13 straight points, by Kotsopoulos pushed the Catamounts lead back to 18, 66-48, with 15 minutes remaining and UVM never looked back.

Vermont maintained at least a 15-point lead the rest of the way to finish the preseason with a 2-0 record.

The Catamounts finished the game shooting 63.6 percent from beyond the arc (14-for-22) and 50 percent from the field. Seto closed out the game with 17 points and seven rebounds. Teammate Alissa Sheftic (Essex Junction, Vt.) also grabbed seven boards to tie Seto for team-high honors. Pilypaitis added 10 assists and five steals to her effort, while Kotsopoulos was 6-for-7 from long range.

Johanna Leedham, the Division II Preseason Player of the Year, led Franklin Pierce with 28 points, four assists and seven steals. Marielle Giroud and Kirsten Doldoorian added 13 and 10 points, respectively for the Ravens.

Vermont tips off the regular season on Friday (Nov. 13) when it faces Western Michigan in the first round of the Sheraton Wolfpack Invitational hosted by North Carolina State. The game versus the Broncos is slated for 6 p.m. UVM will play either Florida International or NC State on the Saturday (Nov. 14) in the consolation or championship game. Both games will be broadcast on WVMT-620 AM and on the Internet at SportsJuice.com