BURLINGTON, Vt. – The Navy women's basketball team dropped a competitive 64-56 contest on the road at the University of Vermont on Friday night. Playing its first game in 11 days, the Mids (2-2) ran into a sharp-shooting Catamount (2-3) squad that connected on 58.8 percent of its three-point attempts in the action at Patrick Gymnasium. Close throughout the majority of the contest, Vermont withstood a third quarter Navy comeback attempt before pulling away for the eight-point victory.
 
A pair of New England natives spearheaded Navy's efforts on Friday as Sophie Gatzounas (Jr., South Hadley, Mass.) recorded a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Laurel Jaunich (Sr., Charlotte, Vt.) added 11 points and seven rebounds in her first game in Patrick Gymnasium since playing in the Vermont High School State Championship in 2016 with her Champlain Valley Union team. Morgan Taylor (Sr., Evans, Ga.) also sparked the Mids off the bench with seven points, five rebounds and a career-high five assists.
 
"We got off to a little bit of an up-and-down start, but with that being said we were really close at the end of the first," said head coach Stefanie Pemper. "We experienced some adversity in the first half. Our zone wasn't effective and we didn't play it as well as we can. Offensively, they were giving us some different looks with their defense that we weren't necessarily great at attacking. We had to simplify some things in the second half and that worked better for us.
 
"Sophie needed a little bit of a jolt to get her to be aggressive in a few possessions. We felt that she would have some matchups that could be good for her and good for us. When she recognized those and attacked, she did a nice job of finishing. Morgan was a real positive for us tonight. She had five assists with no turnovers, four rebounds and seven points. She got into a nice flow and really competed."   
 
Jaunich got the Mids into the scoring column early with the game's first points, a three-pointer at 8:04. After a Vermont basket made it 3-2, Jaunich came back down in the next possession with her second made field goal, a driving layup off of a Jennifer Coleman (So., Richmond, Va.) pass. Mary Kate Ulasewicz (Sr., Doylestown, Pa.) helped the visitors extend their lead out to 8-2 as she sank a three-pointer at 6:02. Over the next three-plus minutes of play, the Catamounts went an 8-2 run of their own to knot the game at 10-10 by the first quarter media timeout at 3:35. For the remainder of the period, Vermont outscored Navy, 4-2 to take a 14-12 lead into the first quarter intermission.
 
Down two points coming out of the break, Jaunich netted her sixth and seventh points of the contest with a long two-pointer 33 seconds into the second quarter to re-tie the game at 14-14. Vermont darted back into the lead with six straight points that were part of a larger 11-3 run to put the Catamounts ahead, 25-17 by the under-five timeout at 4:36. Ulasewicz' second three-pointer of the game at 3:10 cut Vermont's lead to five points, 25-20. The Catamounts increased their lead out a game-high 12 points in short order with a 9-2 run over a 2:23 run of play. With time expiring Gatzounas made it a single-digit deficit going into the locker room as she banked in a three-pointer as time expired.
 
Vermont's 34-25 halftime lead was bolstered by significant advantages in field goal and three-point shooting, 54.2 percent (13-24) to 33.3 percent (10-30) and 66.7 percent (6-9) to 40.0 percent (4-10), as well as a 21-12 margin in total rebounds. 20 of Navy's 25 points came from the trio of Jaunich (7), Gatzounas (7) and Ulasewicz (6).
 
Navy immediately started chipping away at its deficit as Gatzounas successfully drove for a layup on the Mids' first possession. After a brief 4-0 rebuttal by Vermont made it 38-27 at 8:20, Navy came roaring back with nine unanswered points, including six from Kolbi Green (So., Baltimore, Md.) via two three-pointers. While not necessarily scoring, Navy's senior class was providing a ton of the dirty work and energy during this stretch as Jaunich came down with three offensive rebounds and a block and Montana Braxton (Sr., Cape Elizabeth, Maine) was a pest in the low post with a steal. With the score 38-36 at 4:50, the action for the remainder of the third quarter was even for most of the way with each team scoring six points until a late three-pointer by Vermont's Delaney Richason made it 47-42 at the completion of 30 minutes of action.
 
"M.K. came up with a big rebound and showed a lot of fire and passion," remarked Pemper about the Mids' effort in the third quarter. "She was really motivating the team, it seemed like that worked. We also benefited from hitting some three-point shots. Our offense inspired our defense and that got Vermont a little rattled."
 
A fast start to the fourth quarter by the Catamounts' offense helped the hosts extend their lead out to 12 points, 60-48 by the 4:30 mark. Vermont made five of its first six shots, including a pair of three-pointers. Gatzounas and Taylor combined to net the six points for Navy during the first half of the fourth quarter. The same combination of leading scorers in the first half, Jaunich, Gatzounas and Ulasewicz, recorded all of the points for Navy down the stretch, but unfortunately the Mids' comeback attempt would prove insufficient as the Catamounts' lead never fell below eight points as they held on for the 64-56 win.
 
For the game, Vermont outshot Navy, 50.0 percent (24-48) to 36.7 percent (22-60) from the field and 58.8 percent (10-17) to 33.3 percent (6-18) from the field. Both teams made six free throws, Navy was 66.7 percent (6-9), while Vermont was 42.9 percent (6-14).
 
The rebounding battle was nearly equal as Vermont edged Navy in the category, 34-33. The Mids' total was aided by 11 offensive boards. Gatzounas spearheaded Navy's effort with a season-high 10 rebounds. Jaunich added seven rebounds.
 
Navy was clean with its ball control with a 13-to-5 assist-to-turnover ratio. Taylor recorded a career-best five assists to lead the Mids.
 
Friday night served as a homecoming game for Jaunich, who grew up 15 miles from the UVM campus in Charlotte, Vt.
 
"When she [Laurel] broke the ice with that game-opening three-pointer, that was great to see," said Pemper. "She has been practicing really well and has been locked in. I thought she brought that tonight. She was challenged with a really tough matchup in Hanna Crymble, a preseason All-America East player.
 
"Hats off to Vermont, their top-two scorers coming into tonight were their top-two scorers. That's something where our post defense needs to improve. That will be a challenge in the Patriot League, as well."
 
Navy will continue its New England road trip with a Sunday contest versus the University of Maine. Tip-off between the Mids and Black Bears is set for 1 p.m. at the Portland Expo Center.