Let the upsets begin.

It seems only fitting that the Massachusetts women’s basketball team would pull out its second win of the season against the heavily favored University Of Vermont in the confines of the Curry Hicks Cage – the same Cage where the Maroon and White defeated tournament-bound Villanova last year.

UMass survived a second half surge from the Catamounts to hold on for a 54-49 point victory. The Minutewomen let a 16-point lead at halftime slip away to a patient UVM offense, but had just enough to finish the job.

“I was concerned about Vermont, as the best team on our schedule and averaging 72 points a game,” UMass Coach Marnie Dacko said. “Initially we took them out of their game plan, knowing that going into half time down by 16 that they weren’t just going to lay down and die.”

UMass exploded in the first half, and jumped to an early 15-2 lead over UVM. The Minutewomen played tenacious defense on the perimeter and caused an array of turnovers during the stretch, until Catamount forward Lanni Boardman began dominating in the post.

The 6-1 forward scored two unanswered baskets to stop the bleeding. Boardman had all eight of her team’s initial points. She has been an intricate part of her team’s offense this season averaging 18 points per game.

Most impressive for UMass was their patience, which hasn’t been one of their redeeming qualities this season. The Minutewomen kept the ball on the perimeter until options opened, and for the first time of the season they capitalized.

“They are playing a 3-2 zone and so the openings are there and in order for them to come out of the zone you’ve got to hit them,” Dacko said. “We hit them a little bit then they went back to the zone. We’re known for not being a good shooting team, so I would play us in a zone too.”

Fortunately for the Maroon and White, shooting wasn’t a major issue last night. The Minutewomen hit 7-18 behind the arch, including the resurgence of small forward Judit Zsedenyi who was three for seven from downtown.

“I was on, I was hot, and I was open many times so I took my chances and Coach Marnie told me to shoot the ball as many times as I can,” Zsedenyi said. “Sometimes I force it, that’s when I can’t make them.”

Going into the second half UMass had a comfortable 30-14 lead over the visiting Catamounts and appeared to have all the momentum after a strong last minute effort by Monique Govan.

Govan hit Zsedenyi for a jump shot with less than a minute left. On the ensuing inbound she stole the ball and dished it to Judit who was fouled on the drive.

The second half looked like a continuation of the first as the Minutewomen went on several scoring streaks. Before the tides switched UMass went on an eight to zero scoring run off of back-to-back three pointers from Ashley Sharpton.

Then UVM took over.

Using their size advantage in the post, the Catamounts went on a 12-0 lead led by Boardman and Aaron Yantzi. The Minutewomen had nine turnovers in the half and let UVM cut the lead to one with three minutes left in the game.

“We do become complaisant, and I didn’t want our defense to let up. That’s exactly what happened our defense let up and let them get to the foul line,” Dacko said. “I couldn’t find a right combination to keep it going, so I’m happy to get out of here with a W.”

The presence of Brooke Campbell in the post helped the Minutewomen retain their lead. Campbell scored 12 points on the game while grabbing eight rebounds. Her two most influential came with 39 seconds left in the game hitting a lay up after an offensive rebound to put the game away.

UVM didn’t foul after a lost possession and let UMass run the clock out. Campbell was pleased with the victory, but knows that her team almost let the game slip away.

“We were just letting up points they went up and we were missing too many shots,” Campbell said. “Hey it happens they didn’t give up they came out and tried hard, and we were just messing around, but we finished it.”