BENNINGTON, Vt. – The Mountaineers were hard-pressed to break out of a full-court smothering by the Green Mountain College women's basketball team Wednesday night in a 73-54 Eagle win at Southern Vermont College.
GMC ran up and down quickly and converted on turnovers to jump out to an early 11-0 lead. A six-point run helped the Mountaineers climb back, finding themselves down only three midway through the first half. The scoring duo of freshmen Amber Flagg (Windsor, Conn.) and Kala MacKenzie (Fair Haven, Vt.) helped SVC stay with the Eagles, eventually taking a 23-22 lead with a Flagg layup.
With fouls putting Green Mountain in the bonus late in the half, the Eagles were able to take advantage of their trips to the line and went into the break up 27-25 despite the Mountaineers holding a 21-9 rebound advantage.
The Eagles came out and put up the first 12 points of the second half, giving Southern Vermont a deficit it would never be able to overcome. Eagle freshman Alison Wilcox (Windsor, Vt.) accounted for eight points during the run, while junior forward Sierra Pease (West Rutland, Vt.) supplemented with four; both eagles had 15 points in the second half.
SVC would cut the Green Mountain lead to 43-35, but that would be the smallest margin during the second stanza as GMC continued to press and give the Mountaineers problems clearing the ball out of their defensive zone.
Flagg and Pease each finished with game-highs of 22 while MacKenzie recorded a season-high of 14 with five blocks. She finished with a double-double, grabbing 11 boards, six being on the offensive end. Freshman Sarah McDonald (Cohoes, N.Y.) put down 12 off the bench after missing the last two games for the Mountaineers, a season and career-high for her.
The Green Mountain offense totaled 17 assists with five coming from senior captain Jacque Caster (Seneca Falls, N.Y.) and another four from senior captain Chelsea Paul (Northville, N.Y.). Wilcox recorded a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds on the night. GMC shot 45.5% from the field.
Both teams are off until after finals and the winter break with the Mountaineers (1-6, 1-1 NECC) returning for a January 3rd home game against Mass. College of Liberal Arts (7 p.m.). Green Mountain (2-7, 0-4 NAC) returns to North Atlantic Conference action with a 5:30 p.m. tip at home against Johnson State College.