Women's basketball splits a brace Upcoming homestand will provide test for Panther women

Author: Heather Wright

The Middlebury Women's basketball team begins the year 1-1, which brings their record to 6-5. After struggling in their first game back from winter break against Colby-Sawyer, they came out strong and ready to beat Clarkson 65-56.

The Panthers fell to Colby-Sawyer 66-51 on January 6 after going into the second half with a 35-33 deficit. Colby-Sawyer came out strong in the second half and went on a 13-4 run in the first eight minutes. The Panthers were never able to close the gap again. In the second half, Colby-Sawyer outscored the Panthers 31-18.

Middlebury came out determined on Saturday, Jan. 8 against Clarkson. They were ready to avenge the loss in their previous game. The Panthers opened the second half with a 16-3 run and maintained the lead for the remainder of the game. Elyse Carlson '05 led Middlebury with 17 points and Katie Fehsenfeld '06 had 14. Micaela McVary '06 helped with 10 points and 11 rebounds, while Maryanne Verzosa '06 had nine assists.

In these first two games back many of the first-years have stepped up and taken advantage of their playing time. Kate Fisher '08, Erin Lackey '08 and Alanna Young '08 all came out ready to play against Clarkson. This improved play by the first-year class shows their growing confidence and will continue to add greatly to the success of the Middlebury team in future games.

"In addition to the freshmen we had a lot of other people step up from the bench in the game against Clarkson," said McVary. "Erica Goodman '06 had some crucial points and steals, and Carlie Harrington '07 gave us some minutes in order to help give our guards some needed time to rest. In our last two games our bench has gotten some experience, and that will undoubtedly help us during our upcoming grueling conference schedule."

It is hard for any team to come back and get going after the long winter break, but the last two games against Colby-Sawyer and Clarkson have helped put the Middlebury Panthers on-track for a successful second half of the season.

The Panthers have two upcoming home games this weekend. They face Connecticut College at 7 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 14 and Wesleyan on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.