This past Saturday, the Middlebury Women’s Basketball team (17–8) beat Amherst College 59–48 in the quarterfinals of the NESCAC tournament.
In the first half of the game, Middlebury trailed the Mammoths 26–18, and a nervous murmur echoed through the walls of Pepin Gymnasium. The Panthers had come out of the gates flat, and their excellent 2023-24 season was in critical danger of coming to an abrupt end.
However, something Head Coach KJ Krasco said to inspire the team during halftime must have clicked, because Middlebury was a new team in the second half.
“We thought we were in a decent position because we played a bad half, but only trailed by eight,” Bethany Lucey ’24 said. “We had to get back to playing lockdown defense and trust that our shots would begin to fall.”
The Panthers slowly but surely worked themselves back into the game, playing quality defense and relentlessly attacking the offensive glass. The offensive rebounds turned into critical points thanks to multiple three-point shots from guard Calie Messina ’26. As the clock wound down in the third quarter, Lucey banked in a three-point shot to give the Panthers a 36–34 lead, their first of the game.
The fourth quarter was even worse for Amherst, as Middlebury began to consistently connect on their shots. The team had an impressive field goal percentage of 50% in the fourth quarter. The Panthers did not look back and controlled the play throughout the rest of the quarter, coasting to victory. The win marked an impressive comeback, aided by Middlebury outscoring Amherst in the second half by 19 points.
Alexa Mustafaj’s ’25 18 points in the contest propelled her into the record books as Middlebury’s all-time leading scorer. While this is no small accomplishment, the victory was made even more impressive by the way Middlebury functioned as a team. In addition to the offensive and defensive rebounding, a number of slick passes effectively set up open Panther baskets.
Also of note, Middlebury had diversity in scoring at key moments in the game. Messina scored a game high 19 points, Lucey hit an important three pointer, Brooke Collins ’26 added two huge baskets down the stretch and Augusta Dixon ’24.5 scored a momentous “and 1” late in the game.
Middlebury will continue to require clutch performances next weekend when they travel to Brunswick, Maine, take on #11 ranked Bowdoin College in the NESCAC semifinals. Middlebury lost to Bowdoin in mid-January 68–65.
“They’re a well rounded team. They have a couple of post players who had good games against us the first time around,” Lucey said.
The Panthers are currently seeking their second appearance in a NESCAC championship game, a feat they have not accomplished since the 2001-02 season when they finished as the NESCAC runner up.
The stakes certainly are high, but the team is focused on just playing basketball. “We all have experience in high pressure games, so the mindset is to just take the game one play at a time,” Lucey said.
With a win, Middlebury would play for the NESCAC title the next day, as well as a bid to the NCAA tournament.
