Women burn foes during hot start Panthers hold up 4-1 record alongside the Skidmore trophy

Author: Sarah Poling Luehrman

Two tournaments in, it's safe to say that things are looking very good for the Middlebury women's basketball team this year. The Panthers currently boast a 4-1 record when they trailed 1-3 this time last year, and they are looking at another home game this weekend against Union. "It's encouraging to see how well we work as a team so early in the season," said Alanna Young '08. "All our wins have come from a great combination of players on the floor working together."

The season began with a 2-0 sweep for Middlebury at the Skidmore women's basketball tournament in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Nov. 19 and 20. First to face the Panthers this season was Oneonta, who gave them an exciting and suspenseful game. The two teams were evenly matched throughout, Oneonta leading by only two at the half. Kate Fisher '08 scored a team high of 16 points, shooting seven for 12, and Ashley Barron '09 contributed 11 points. The second half proved as suspenseful as the first. With 25 seconds left in the game, the score tied at 60-60, Young stepped up to the line to sink one of two free throws, giving Middlebury the 61-60 victory.

Oneonta went on to beat Skidmore in the next day's consolation match, and the Panthers, meanwhile, defeated Rhode Island College 80-57, securing the tournament title. A solid first half of evenly matched play that ended in a four-point lead for Middlebury proved to be a mere warm-up. The Panthers ran the second half handily with a 14-4 run from the start, increasing their lead to 18 with just under eight minutes left in the game. Fisher outdid her performance against Oneonta by half, scoring a total of 23 points and earning the tournament MVP title. Emily Johnson '09 also earned a place on the all-tournament team with her 16-point contribution to the score, and Jennifer Kelleher '06 scored 10 points.

Just two days later, when most students were packing their bags and heading home for Thanksgiving break, the basketball team was bound for Norwich to pick up its third victory of the season. Middlebury's opponents gave them a tough time in the first half, building to an 8-20 lead. Not to be discouraged, the Panthers fought back and managed to decrease the margin to 14-20 before the end of the half. Once again, the second half brought out the team's strongest play, and the Panthers overtook the Cadets to lead 38-32, after which the latter never managed to reclaim the lead. They did, however, come awfully close, tying the game at 42-all until Barron sank a three-point shot with less than two minutes left in the game. The Cadets, though they sank one free throw before the end of the game, could not overtake their opponents, and Middlebury walked away with a 45-43 win. In addition to scoring the game-winning three-pointer, Barron scored a team high of 14 points, with Fisher close behind with 13. The challenging win from behind, said captain Lacey Hebert '06, "is a great example of what kind of a team we are - we played poorly in the first half which left us down by six and…we came out fighting in the second half and took the lead."

The winning streak came to an unfortunate end at the McWilliams Classic at Washington University in St. Louis, where the Panthers faced their hosts on Saturday, Nov. 26. A difficult first half ended in a 20-50 lead for Wash U, four-time NCAA champions. The second half began with a key three pointer from Hebert, and the Panthers straightened up and gave their spectators an exciting and competitive half, during which their opponents increased their 30 point lead by only eight. Fisher's nine point contribution was the team high for the afternoon, and Hebert and Katie Fehsenfeld '06 each scored seven. Though the team didn't feel that they played well, says Head Coach Noreen Pecsok, "we will take a lot from [the loss to Wash U] in terms of what we need to do to play at that level."

The next day's consolation match, however, brought a win that "speaks to the toughness of our team," in Pecsok's words. "To come back after Saturday's loss and not play well early in the game, but to stay aggressive and relentless until our offensive game got back in sync" earned them a 64-41 win against Wisconsin Lutheran, who had fallen to Denison the day before. Fisher, once again, was named to the All-Tournament team after her performance against Wisconsin Lutheran. She scored a team high of 16 points, Young had 11, and Johnson, having recovered from a tough fall on a bad foul the day before, scored six points with eight rebounds and contributed five assists and four steals.

The team went on to capture a fifth win in Pepin Gymnasium against Castleton State, 52-58, on Tuesday, Nov. 29. The Panthers took the lead early in the first half and never gave it up, though Castleton managed to close the score margin from 12 to four in the last ten minutes of the game. Maryanne Verzosa '06 kept the Panthers ahead, however, sinking four of four freethrows as the game drew to a close. Young scored a team high of eight points and captain Micaela McVary '06 scored six.

Erica Goodman '06 attributes the team's consistently strong performance late in every game to the depth of the team. "We have so many people who can jump in and out of the game," she says. "The starters can come out and the bench can go in," making it easier to keep the team fresh throughout the game. Young adds, "it doesn't matter who is in the game with whom, everyone is working well with each other both on defense, and finding each other on offense, regardless of whether or not they are accustomed to playing together."

On Saturday, the team hosts Union before two away games next week. Then they can take some time off to relax and get ready for their ten games in January.