Women drop two to open NESCAC play

Author: Jeff Klein

The women's basketball team lost a pair of road games this weekend, falling to Bates 80-67 and to Tufts 60-41.

The two defeats drop Middlebury's record to 6-8, a disappointing setback for a team that, before the weekend, had reached the .500 mark and was looking to begin NESCAC play on a strong note.

As it is, the Panthers will have to rebound and try to move up the NESCAC ladder when they host Connecticut College and Wesleyan University at Pepin Gymnasium this coming Friday and Saturday.

Against Bates, Middlebury trailed from the get-go as the Bobcats surged out to leads of 5-0, 15-7 and 19-9.

Despite the fact that the Panthers out-rebounded the Bobcats by a comfortable 22-12 margin in the first half, they still saw themselves trailing at the intermission by a 37-22 score. While Bates shot a sweltering 59.3 percent from the field in that first stanza, Middlebury was a cold 30.3 percent from the floor.

A three-pointer from sharpshooter Ashley Barron '09 narrowed Bates' lead to 42-30 with two minutes elapsed in the second half, but Bates gradually built its advantage back up as time wore on.

A 12-4 Bates run capped by two straight layups by Lauren Dobish gave the Bobcats a commanding 58-37 lead at the 11:42 mark.

Middlebury would not go away, however. Brittany Perfetti '12 nailed two three-pointers in a 13-6 Panther run that got the team to within 12 at 68-56 with a little over five minutes remaining.

Unfortunately, that margin was as close as the Panthers would get, and Bates was able to secure the 80-67 victory.

The following day, Middlebury found itself locked in a defensive battle with 12th-ranked Tufts, who came into the game having won its last seven contests.

While the Jumbos led 12-3 at the 15:40 mark, the two teams combined to score just 16 points in the ensuing 10+ minutes.

However, the scoring picked up a little bit after Middlebury had closed to within 17-14, as Tufts went on a 13-5 run to establish a double-digit lead.

Once again, Middlebury had thoroughly out-rebounded its opponent in the first stanza - this time by an even bigger margin of 11 - yet it still trailed at intermission, 30 to 19.

Middlebury came out of the half with renewed vigor, as it went on an early 8-0 run to cut the Jumbos' lead to 36-31 at the 14:42 mark. Four consecutive points by Alison Wells '11 brought the Panthers to within 38-35 with 11:52 on the clock, but Middlebury went ice cold thereafter, scoring just six points for the remainder of the game.

While Middlebury was struggling from thefield, Tufts went on a 16-0 run in a little under 10 minutes of action, giving them an insurmountable 56-37 lead with just over two minutes to play.

Allison Needham '11 led the Panthers with eight points, while Wells led the Panthers with nine boards to go along with six points.

Senior co-captain Ashley Barron '09 made it clear that the Panthers have the potential to come up big in the NESCAC this season, but that every member of the team needed to get that fiery mentality and winning attitude that characterize successful teams.

"Everyone needs to be mentally tougher and executing the smaller aspects of our game in order to compete with the fast pace of NESCAC basketball," she said. "We're aware of our potential to be a threat. However, the difference comes with all 13 of us having the heart, courage and confidence as individuals and, most importantly, as a group."