Ladies' hoops slip to .500 after tough week

Author: Heather Wright

The Middlebury College Women's basketball team had their first opening games for their NESCAC schedule on Jan. 14 and 15th. The Panthers came out strong on Friday evening as they defeated Connecticut College, 65-50. Middlebury lost on Saturday against a strong Wesleyan University team, 75-54.
Coming into the game against Connecticut College, Middlebury knew "this was a huge game for us because we wanted to start out league play on a winning note," said Captain Elyse Carlson '05. The Panthers came out flat in the first half and shot the ball poorly.
This led to Connecticut College holding the lead for the entire first half. Middlebury went into halftime down by two points, 25-23, but managed to come out strong in the second half. The Panthers managed to do this by picking up their defensive intensity and finished their shots.
"This win was a solid team effort with everyone contributing in some way," said Carlson. Middlebury continued to play strong throughout the second half and gave Connecticut College no chance, eventually beating them by 15 points, 65-50.
The Panthers faced a determined Wesleyan University team that had come up to Middlebury on Saturday, Jan. 15 after a big upset the night before at Williams. Middlebury lost decisively 75-54 as none of their shots seemed able to find the basket. Wesleyan outscored Middlebury 17-4 from the foul line and hit six of eight three-pointers throughout the game.
One of Wesleyan's players, Sue Frost, hit five three's before halftime, giving Wesleyan a 42-26 lead at intermission. The Panthers were able to cut the lead to 13, but were unable to do more than this. Carlson led Middlebury with 12 points and Katie Fehsenfeld '06 scored 10.
"It was a physical and aggressive game, and unfortunately for us they had a height advantage and shot the ball really well," said Carlson.
Middlebury traveled to Union on Tuesday, the 18th and fell 62-54. Union came out strong and the Panthers were never able to catch up. Middlebury then traveled to Bates and Tufts this past weekend. They lost to a good Bates team 75-50 on Friday the 21st and traveled to Tufts on Saturday where they were more successful. The win at Tufts moved them to 2-2 in NESCAC play as they solidly defeated the Jumbos 68-59.
Carlson said, "From here on out we play really good teams, so we know we have our work cut out for us. But we practice hard and play determined, so I know that we are ready for the challenge."
This challenge has been escalated as two starting players, captain Lacey Hebert '06 and Katie Fehsenfeld '06 both are out for the remainder of the season with torn ACL's. It is now more important than ever that the bench steps up. They have proven they are capable of doing just that with their win over Tufts.
Middlebury's next home game is on Thursday night. when the Panthers host Keene State at 7 p.m.