With their NESCAC seeding and seniors’ pride on the line on Saturday, the Middlebury College Women’s basketball team came through with a big win over Trinity, which ended a four-game NESCAC losing streak and gave them confidence heading into the NESCAC tournament, which begins on Saturday. The win over the Bantams followed a loss to second-ranked Amherst at home the previous evening.
Middlebury, whose NESCAC misfortunes had been well-documented going into their game against Amherst, played a very respectable first half against the heavily favored Lady Jeffs on Friday. Deliberately slowing the pace of their offense to offset the high-powered attack of Amherst, who averages 80 points per game, the Panthers managed only 16 first-half points, but still only trailed by nine at the break due to their ability to hold possession and their efforts on the defensive end of the floor. Middlebury did turn the ball over 14 times in the first half, which led to 12 of Amherst’s 25 first-half points.
In the second half, Middlebury pulled within eight points after a Stephany Surrette ’12 layup cut the lead to 31-23 with just over 15 minutes left, but did not get closer, as Amherst was able to pull away over the final 10 minutes of the game en route to an eventual 63-43 win.
Poor shooting plagued both teams throughout the night, but especially the Panthers, who only managed 33 percent from the floor. Tracy Borsinger ’13 led the Panthers in scoring with 18 on the night.
“We fought hard the entire game and never made them feel comfortable,” said Brittany Perfetti ’12 of the loss to Amherst. “Being able to compete against them proves that we are still a threat in the NESCAC and are a very competitive NESCAC team.”
Playing on Senior night the following Saturday, the Panthers seemed determined to deliver a win for the home Pepin Arena crowd, and win they did over the Trinity College Bantams by a final score of 66-47. Sparked by an early 12-2 run, Middlebury and Trinity dueled throughout the first half, with the Bantams cutting the lead to as little as one point with less than two minutes left, but the Panthers were able to add a few more points for an eventual halftime lead of 26-21.
In the second half, Middlebury took advantage of eight points from Maddie Moreau ’12 as they continued to build their lead over the Bantams. Additionally, the Panthers made every single three-point basket they attempted after the break. Oftentimes leading by over 20 points in the closing minutes of the game, Middlebury would go on to win by a final tally of 19, earning the seventh seed in the NESCAC tournament in the process.
Senior Co-captain Lauren Sanchez ’11 shone on senior night, leading the Panthers with 16 points despite only attempting three field goals- she contributed 13 points from the charity stripe on 16 attempts, and continued to build on her own record of all-time free throws made for Middlebury women’s basketball. Moreau scored 15 against the Bantams, and Perfetti added 13 points of her own.
“The Trinity game had a lot of sentimental value for us,” said Perfetti. “We wanted to make Lauren and [Co-captain and senior] Allie Needham ’11 proud of all the hard work and dedication they’ve shown to this team.”
Up next for Middlebury is a NESCAC quarterfinal game against second-seeded Colby College. The Panthers endured one of their more lopsided losses against the Mules on February 4rth, falling 81-60, but will look to even the odds this go-around in the hopes of advancing deep into the NESCAC tournament.
“We’re really going to review the game tape from the last time we played Colby in preparing for them this week,” said Sanchez. “If we can improve in areas where we made mistakes and capitalize on their weaknesses, it should be a great game.”
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