Women's Basketball Topped by Middlebury, 68-43

MIDDLEBURY, Vermont – The Middlebury College women's basketball team forced 18 turnovers and held a 54-37 edge on the boards on its way to a 68-43 win over Anna Maria (6-6) in Pepin Gym. The Panthers (6-3) were led by the sixth double-double in nine games from Catherine Harrison, who netted 14 points alongside 14 rebounds.

AMCAT LEADERS

Christina Gauvin (Dudley, Mass.) led Anna Maria with 11 points, three assists and three steals. Lindsay Bond (Webster, Mass.) added six points, while Nicole Mareiro (Acushnet, Mass.) grabbed eight boards.

MIDDLEBURY LEADERS

Sarah Kaufman led all scorers with 17 points, including 5-8 from three-point range. Harrison followed, while Rachel Collins scored a dozen in the win. Eileen Daley grabbed nine boards as Alex Huffman finished with five points, five rebounds and six assists.

HOW IT HAPPENED

With the game tied at 9-9 in the first quarter, Middlebury went on a 7-0 spurt to take a 16-9 lead with 1:47 remaining on a bucket from Harrison. Samantha Parker (Athol, Mass.) hit a jumper for Anna Maria to make it a 16-11 game after 10 minutes of play.

The Panther defense forced the AMCATS to miss their first six shots of the second quarter, turning the ball over on one possession. Leading 17-11, a hoop from Colleen Caveney along with a two and a three from Sabrina Weeks gave the home team a 24-13 edge with 3:37 remaining. The Panthers held its largest lead of the half (34-17) at the intermission after Sarah Kaufman drained a shot from just inside the mid-court stripe as time expired.

Harrison opened the second half with three-straight buckets to put her team on top, 40-19. The lead ballooned to 23 points on two occasions, before the AMCATS cut the advantage to 18 at 49-31 with 3:10 left in the third quarter. Middlebury responded with an 8-0 run that ran into the fourth quarter, holding a 57-31 edge on a lay-up from Ivy Houde with 9:44 remaining. The lead stayed at 20 or more points for the remainder of the contest, including a game-high 27-point advantage when the buzzer sounded.           

FINAL COMPARISONS

Middlebury finished the game going 8-19 (.421) from behind the three-point line, holding its opponents to 3-18 (.167) from three-point range.

WHAT'S NEXT

Middlebury returns to action when it opens NESCAC play on Friday night against Wesleyan at 7:00 p.m. Anna Maria next plays in a little over a week when it hosts Lasell at 7:00 p.m. on January 13.