As Albany’s Lilly Phillips drove to the basket, Vermont’s Bella Vito, the America East’s defensive player of the year, stuck her hands in and poked the ball free and picked up the loose ball. On the other end, Anna Olson cashed in on the steal, scoring a layup over Kayla Cooper to give visiting Vermont a five-point cushion in Friday’s America East championship game.

The sequence was part of a decisive third quarter for Vermont women’s basketball at Albany’s Broadview Center. And in a battle of two of the top-10 scoring defenses in the nation, the Catamounts were the ones enforcing their will to sway control.

And the conference’s ultimate prize was Vermont’s once again.

Leaning on that game-swinging third quarter and withstanding a fourth-quarter comeback bid, the No. 2 Catamounts seized a 62-55 win over top-seeded host Albany for the program’s second league title in three seasons.

Vermont (21-12) earned the the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament and will learn its next stop Sunday at 8 p.m. on ESPN during the Women’s March Madness Selection Show. It will mark the Catamounts’ eighth trip to March Madness.

The Great Danes (26-6) lost to Vermont for the third straight year in the league playoffs, including both title-game matchups.

The Catamounts held the Great Danes scoreless for the final six-and-a-half minutes of the third quarter while forcing UAlbany to run the shot clock down to under five seconds on multiple possessions throughout the game.

The Catamounts also handed the Great Danes their only home loss (16-1) this winter.

The Catamounts got off to a much better start Friday than their trip there on Jan 2. In that game Vermont shot just 16.67% from the field in the opening quarter and trailed 16-4 after the first 10 minutes.

The Catamounts sported a different lineup than the one they used in their conference opener against the Great Danes. Malia Lenz and Keira Hanson started that Jan. 2 game, but Vermont rolled with its usual lineup with Nikola Priede and Sarah Ericson joining Catherine Gilwee, Olson and Vito in the starting five.

It was a different story in the America East championship. Vermont started the game 6 of 11 from the field, with Priede and Vito getting open looks in the paint.

The first half featured 13 lead changes with the teams tied at 28-28. But there was only one more lead change in the second half when the Catamounts scored the first bucket in the third quarter.

Priede scored 10 points in the first half and led the Catamounts with 20 points and nine rebounds, providing the bulk of the offense early earning the tournament’s most outstanding player award. Gilwee added 12 points while Olson finished with 11 points and six boards. Keira Hanson chipped in nine points.

Vermont finished 22 of 48 from the field, production that included 12 of 22 shooting in the second half. Of their 62 points, 38 came in the paint. The Catamounts defense was on point forcing 14 turnovers including seven steals.

For Albany, Cooper (18 points, eight rebounds) and Jessica Tomasetti (14 points, seven points) paced the hosts. Albany shot 22 of 43 for the game, but just 2 of 9 in the third.

Check back later for an updated story.

Contact Judith Altneu at jaltneu@gannett.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter: @Judith_Altneu.