Pett, Panthers Rebound in Opening Weekend Split

The Middlebury women’s basketball team earned a split on their season-opening weekend in the Colby Sawyer Tournament, rebounding after a narrow, hard-fought loss to Fitchburg to down the hosts in a decisive victory that Middlebury dominated from the opening tip.

In Saturday’s loss to the Falcons, Middlebury twice battled back from double-digit deficits, once in the first half and again in the second half to take a one-point lead with under a minute remaining in regulation as guard Laura Lowry ’14 freed herself from her defender late in the shot clock to drain a three-pointer that gave the team a fleeting lead. Fitchburg converted on a pair of free throws on the ensuing possession and the Panthers coughed up the basketball on the next possession with less than 30 seconds remaining, forcing them to foul the Falcons. Consecutive sequences of Fitchburgh free throws and empty Middlebury possessions sealed the Panthers’ fate.

“They pressed us the entire game, and that made it really difficult for us to get into our offensive set,” said guard Sarah Marcus ’14. “They took away everything that we’re comfortable in and forced us to make lots of turnovers. We played the second half with a ton of effort, but little efficiency. We were looking for quick fixes when we should have been looking for the extra pass and at the end that got the best of us.”

The loss also diminished an outstanding individual performance by senior Katie Pett ’14, who poured in 16 points and pulled down 23 rebounds, duplicating her career highs in both areas. Pett’s pair of 23-rebound performances — separated by just over 10 months — are the second-highest single-game tallies in program history, trailing only the 34-rebound performance of Caroline Leary ’92, Middlebury’s all-time leader in career rebounds.

While Pett acknowledged that first-game adrenaline aided her performance, the game situation —and the importance of controlling the basketball — drove her to make plays.

“As the game went on, it became obvious how critical it was to limit their second chances and how badly we needed second chance baskets,” Pett said. “I was just locked in on doing whatever I could do to give us the best chance at winning.”

“Katie Pett is one of the most competitive and hardworking people that I know,” Lowry said. “As always, that translated into a ton of rebounds, and huge defensive presence. She brings an intensity to the floor that elevates all of our play.”

The next day, Middlebury found space to operate offensively, shooting 45 percent from the floor — a significant improvement on Saturday’s 21-69 (30.4 percent) shooting performance. The Panthers were carried by its trio of starting guards as Marcus, Lowry and first-year Siobhan O’Sullivan ’17 combined to score 40 of the Panthers’ 59 points, nearly eclipsing Colby-Sawyer’s 43-point performance.

“Colby-Sawyer is a very good team, but plays a different style than Fitchburg, which allowed us to run our offense,” said head coach Noreen Pecsok.

“We were able to get in a rhythm offensively that we never did against Fitchburg.”

On the other end, Middlebury limited the Chargers to just six first-half field goals on 22 percent shooting as the Panthers jumped out to a 14-2 lead, which they extended to 14 by the break. Pett grabbed 12 more rebounds and recorded four steals in another strong performance on the defensive end.

“We worked hard to get good shots out of our offense and focused on having baskets come from assists,” Marcus said. “We recognized that we needed to play more composed to not turn the ball over and that we need to focus on what each of us can do individually to make our teammates better.”

While Middlebury still turned the ball over 24 times — giving them 52 through two games — 14 of the team’s 22 made field goals came off assists as Marcus led the way with five dimes and Lowry added four more.

Another bright spot was the play of a pair of first-years. O’Sullivan, who  started both games, contributed 11 points, five rebounds and five steals, while turning the ball over just once in 27 minutes against the Chargers. Elizabeth Knox ’17, meanwhile, stuffed the stat sheet with six points, five rebounds, three assists and a steal in just 17 minutes off the bench.

“Once we spend more time on the court together playing Middlebury basketball the offensive issues and turnovers that slowed us down this weekend will be dealt with,” Lowry said. “Our defense, and effort was there this weekend. What excites me the most was how relentlessly my teammates played.”

The Panthers play their home opener  at Pepin Gymnasium on Saturday, Nov. 23 against Emmanuel.