Vermont women's basketball clinches first outright America East title in 24 years

For the first time since the early 2000s, Vermont women's basketball claimed the outright regular-season championship in America East.

The preseason favorites, Catamounts secured the top seed for the conference tournament after earning a 68-37 victory over UMass Lowell in their regular-season finale on Thursday, Feb. 26 after being selected as the

This is the Catamounts' seventh regular-season title and first outright title since 2002. Vermont (24-7, AE 13-3) now has homecourt advantage throughout the America East tournament which is set to begin on Thursday, March 5. The Catamounts are seeking back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament.

The last time Vermont won a share of the regular-season title came during the 2022-2023 season.

The regular season ended on a high note after suffering another wake-up call loss to UMBC on Feb. 19. The game was never close after the first six minutes.

Following the first media timeout at the 3:48 mark, Vermont exploded for an 18-0 run spanning the first and second quarters helping the Catamounts take a 26-9 lead. During that run, Jadyn Weltz, Keira Hanson and Jacklynn Hosier all converted 3-pointers helping open up the offense that saw Nikola Priede do the early scoring.

The first half was the type of half where everything was working for Vermont. With time winding down in the second quarter, Malia Lenz corralled the rebound off Hanson's miss and fired off a jumper in one motion that fell through the hoop beating the buzzer.

LENZ AT THE BUZZER😱 pic.twitter.com/zI0pJzsVTN

— UVM Women's Basketball (@UVMwbb) February 26, 2026

The Catamounts defense picked up where they left off in their win against NJIT on Feb. 21, forcing 10 turnovers in the first half and turning those giveaways into 19 points. The River Hawks only shot 19.2% from the field in the first half as the America East's top-ranked defense held UMass Lowell (8-20, AE 2-13) to just 13 points in the first half.

Vermont finished with 26 points off turnovers after forcing 16 giveaways that included nine steals.

It was cruise control in the second half for Vermont. Emma Haan came alive making four triples finishing with a career-high 15 points. Haan was one of three Catamounts to score double-digits joining Priede (20 points) and Hanson (16 points).

Everyone who played significant minutes, Lenz, Weltz, Haan, Priede, Hanson and Hosier all contributed points. The Catamounts finished the game shooting 41.8% from the field with nine made 3-pointers.

The Catamounts have their second bye on the final day of the regular season (Saturday, Feb. 28), so they can enjoy some rest before the postseason begins.

Vermont does not know its quarterfinals opponent yet, but it is between UMass Lowell and New Hampshire, both of whom are battling for the final spot. The Catamounts swept both teams during the regular season.

The finalized America East tournament bracket will be set on Saturday, Feb. 28.

Contact Judith Altneu at [email protected]. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter: @Judith_Altneu.

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Vermont women's basketball routs UMass Lowell to earn outright title