Women’s basketball shines in early games

After starting the 2010-11 season 9-1, the Middlebury College Women’s basketball team is serving notice that Pepin Arena doesn’t just belong to the men anymore. The Panthers are off to their best start in recent memory, and are doing so the old-fashioned way: with solid rebounding, upperclass leadership, and lights-out defense.

“Our early-season success has definitely given us a lot of confidence going into conference play,” said Brittany Perfetti ’12. “Getting off to such a solid start shows that we will be a strong competitor in the NESCAC.”

The women finished the fall semester portion of their schedule unbeaten, notching a 6-0 record and earning the Brockport Invitational Tournament title. This undefeated streak would end, however, with the Panther’s first game back after the winter recess, when they lost to Worcester Poly Institute in overtime, falling by a score of 67-65. The Panthers had a chance to end the game in regulation, but could not get a shot off when they gained possession with 3.5 seconds left. In the overtime, WPI went up by two points with 90 seconds remaining, and that would prove to be the difference in the game, as neither team would score for the rest of the contest. Maddie Moreau ’12 led the Panthers against WPI with 17 points, and Stephany Surrette ’12 and co-captain Lauren Sanchez ’11 each added double-doubles.

Middlebury returned to their winning ways over the next week of play, defeating three consecutive opponents to finish the non-conference part of their schedule with a winning percentage of .900. First up was an away game against traditional rival Plattsburgh, which turned out to be one of the Panther’s closer wins of the season, a 70-61 victory. The game was tied at 39 at halftime, but Middlebury was able to pull away in the second half with a 10-2 run that pushed the margin to 64-54. Perfetti  scored 19 points, and the Panthers were able to finish of the win despite shooting only .339 from the floor.

Next up was Skidmore, who the Panthers dispatched with the ease they have become accustomed to this season. Holding Skidmore to two of 20 shooting through the first 12 minutes of the game, Middlebury leapt out to an early lead and never relinquished it, going on to win by a margin of 73-56. Sanchez led four Middlebury players in double-figures with 16 points.

The final game on the non-conference portion of Middlebury’s schedule was a home contest against Lyndon State, against whom the Panthers had one of their highest offensive outputs of the season, putting up 84 points in a 21-point route. An astonishing six Panther players finished in double figures with Surrette leading the way with 15 points to go along with 10 rebounds.

The Panthers open conference play this weekend with games at Tufts and Bates. Sanchez isn’t pulling any punches when she talks about the tone the team wants to set going up against NESCAC rivals.

“We wanted to send a message to our conference, and I think our 9-1 start does just that. Our wins have shaped our identity of a strong team that executes and pushes the ball for 40 minutes,” said Sanchez.

With their success in the early part of the season, it’s hard to imagine a NESCAC team that isn’t apprehensive at the prospect of facing Middlebury on the hardwood.