BENNINGTON, Vt. – It would take an extra five-minute session for the Mitchell College women's basketball team to secure a New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) playoff spot as the Mariners knocked off Southern Vermont 61-58 at the Mountaineer Athletic Center Tuesday evening.
This past weekend's winter storm caused the game to be rescheduled from Saturday afternoon.
Four Mountaineers reached double-digits points while Mitchell freshman guard Savannah Boyle (Attleboro, Mass.) led all players with 20.
Both teams started slowly with Southern Vermont getting its first five points at the free throw line. Mitchell held a quick advantage for a majority of the opening stanza, but strong bench play by SVC freshman Javasha White (Schenectady, N.Y.) helped spark a Mountaineer comeback that helped tie the contest a handful of times. She had seven points and eight rebounds in the first.
Mitchell was able to prevent the Mountaineers from taking a lead, and the Mariners then used two free throws from freshman forward Diamond Thomas (Hartford, Conn.) and a jumper by Boyle to find itself up 23-20 at the half. Thomas led all players at the break with eight points while junior forward Kate Mulloy (Gardner, Mass.) had six boards for Mitchell.
Shortly into the second period, an old fashion 3-point play by Mountaineer freshman captain Amber Flagg (Windsor, Conn.) put the hosts up 27-25. Mulloy answered with a jumper to once again tie things up. After a White basket put SVC ahead, Mariner sophomore guard Zilka Navarro (Waterbury, Conn.) drained a three to put Mitchell up 32-20 with 13:05 to play in the second stanza.
The Mariners would go up by seven, but a 6-0 Southern Vermont run capped by two Nicole Principato (Quincy, Mass.) free throws chopped the lead back to only 40-39. With the Mountaineers down one, they played the ball low to freshman forward Sarah McDonald (Cohoes, N.Y.) who worked her pivot foot before eventually turning around for the go-ahead jumper.
Mitchell freshman Amanda Garcia (New Britain, Conn.) went to the line after being fouled while shooting, only to convert the latter of her free throws to tie the game 45-45 with 4:15 left on the clock. The Mountaineers responded with a huge 3-pointer by Flagg followed by freshman forward Kala MacKenzie (Fair Haven, Vt.) blocking a shot by Mitchell senior guard Suzie Barbosa (Orange, Conn.). SVC freshman guard Mariah Anthony (Northfield, Mass.) hit the ensuing jumper as the Mountaineers stood ahead 50-45.
Boyle helped the Mitchell cause as she came down the floor and put one up from behind the arc, getting fouled on her way down as the ball dropped through the rim. She would hit the free throw and MC quickly found itself back to within one. Mitchell would follow that with a 3-ball by senior guard Kaylee Cerruto (Torrington, Conn.) to go up 52-50.
A Mariner foul then put McDonald at the line, hitting both to even it up. After MacKenzie hit one-of-two from the charity stripe, Thomas would knock down the front end of two free throws to tie it 53-53. McDonald would then miss a jumper with under a minute to play, and Mulloy picked up her fifth foul on the offensive end after crashing into Flagg going for a loose ball. Flagg would convert both with the Mountaineers in the double bonus, and SVC stood ahead 55-53 as Mitchell used a full timeout with 18 ticks to play.
A foul on MacKenzie put Boyle at the line for two to tie with 0.8 seconds on the clock, and she converted both before Southern Vermont was unable to get a shot off as time expired.
The overtime period saw turnovers and missed shots by both teams, but Mitchell was able to hit two from deep to stand ahead 61-55 with 2:54 left. The Mountaineers made a couple trips to the line with McDonald hitting one and MacKenzie knocking down two free throws, but the final two minutes of the game saw neither team score as the Mariners left with the 61-58 win.
Flagg led the Mountaineers with 18 points and also grabbed five rebounds on the night while White followed with 12 points and 12 rebounds for the double-double; Flagg also added three assists and four steals to her line. MacKenzie also finished with a double-double, scoring 10 and having 12 boards, and McDonald recorded 11 points and six rebounds on the night.
Boyle was followed by Mulloy who finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds to go along with four blocks. Garcia grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds and also scored seven points in the win. Mitchell was able to record 17 points off the 30 SVC turnovers, where adversely Southern Vermont only scored three off the 21 Mariner giveaways.
Southern Vermont (3-20 overall, 3-13 NECC) next welcomes Bay Path College to the MAC for a 7 p.m. game Wednesday while Mitchell (5-17 overall, 5-11 NECC) welcomes Becker College Wednesday for a 6 p.m. contest.