LYNDONVILLE, Vt. — For the first time since 2010-11, the Southern Vermont College women's basketball team opened the season with a victory as the visiting Mountaineers downed Lyndon State College 81-59 Saturday afternoon in non-conference action at Stannard Gymnasium.
Three SVC players reached double digits in the points column, senior Turquoia Johnson (Rockville, Md.) leading the way with a career-best 24 while adding nine rebounds, seven steals and six assists. Southern Vermont owned a 41-36 upper hand at halftime and then pulled away in the final two quarters for the sizable victory.
The Mountaineers are off now until next weekend when they head to Massachusetts for their fourth consecutive Curry College Tip-off Tournament. SVC takes on the hosting Colonels first on Saturday, November 21 at 3 p.m.
Southern Vermont posted a 46.6 field goal percentage on the day while holding LSC to a 28.8 mark from the floor. The Mountaineers scored 31 points off the 27 Hornet turnovers as Lyndon State used the 19 SVC giveaways to total only 11 points. SVC remains unbeaten in the all-time series against the Hornets, moving to a perfect 3-0 with the win.
Mountaineer senior Shaniquewa Barnes (Landover, Md.) followed Johnson with career-highs of her own, notching 16 points and a game-best 12 rebounds for her first collegiate double-double. Classmate Kala MacKenzie (Fair Haven, Vt.) added 14 points, four boards and three steals while captains Amber Flagg (Windsor, Conn.) and Amber Dow (Vergennes, Vt.) each had eight points; Flagg chipped in with eight rebounds and four assists in the win while also notching one steal, tying her for the all-time program career record of 187.
Lyndon used a fast-paced offense early on, wasting no time on the shot clock to get up quick attempts that resulted in fast scores; the Hornets' first six points came from down low in the post, going up 6-3 with a pair of easy jumpers from senior Aimee Thompson (Barnet, Vt.). After a slow start, Barnes started to get rolling midway through the opening quarter as she scored seven quick points, five straight coming during a 9-0 SVC run that forced an LSC timeout. The senior forward's final basket of that stretch came when she was able to position herself for an offensive board and put it back up for the bucket that put Southern Vermont on top 18-12 with 3:32 to go in the period.
Out of its stoppage, Lyndon tallied five straight points that were all scored by freshman Faith Richard (Acushnet, Mass.), the last three coming on an open shot from downtown that cut the Hornet deficit to one. Two LSC baskets put the hosts up by a single point (21-20), but Dow then nailed a three-pointer off a Johnson dish with time expiring for SVC to go to the first break with a 23-21 edge.
The Hornets took the first possession of the second quarter and set up a three-ball in the right corner to reclaim the lead, only to see Johnson answer with a jumper on the other end after grabbing a rebound off the offensive glass. Lyndon would notch eight unanswered points with the help of two three-pointers from sophomore Brittney LaFreniere (Randolph, Vt.), the hosts going up 33-27 with 5:44 to go in the half. LSC was successful through the first two stanzas in moving the ball around the perimeter before finding an open shot, some of those coming in the bottom of the key on backdoor cuts.
After LaFreniere's second trey, Barnes sparked an 8-0 SVC response as she squared up on the right edge and knocked down a long two-point shot. She would add another pair of baskets during the run that put Southern Vermont up 35-33, but the Mountaineer lead would not last long with the Hornets tying the game on the ensuing possession before going up by one on a free throw.
That would be the last point of the half for the hosts, however, as SVC forced three missed Lyndon attempts in the final 1:21 while scoring six straight points to take a 41-36 lead into the locker room. The first Mountaineer basket in that run came when senior Marissa Myers (Chatham, N.Y.) sent a nice bounce pass from the left edge of the arc through the lane to sophomore Chloe Longe (Enosburg Falls, Vt.); Longe would miss her first attempt at the lay-in but grabbed her own rebound and put it back for the easy two. Flagg capped the half's scoring with a sideways floater, getting it to go with her left hand as she swept through the lane from the right side.
SVC wasted no time in opening up its lead to start the third quarter, the Mountaineers scoring the first 16 points of the period for a comfortable cushion. Dow knocked down a three-pointer from the left edge early in that stretch while Southern Vermont's outside-in ball movement led to the visitor's front court getting quality looks at the hoop. SVC registered three quick transition baskets late in the run, using two steals and a fast outlet pass to Flagg to force a Lyndon timeout.
The Mountaineer defense settled in and forced eight LSC turnovers in the period, allowing Lyndon to knock down only its first basket of the third with 5:23 left on the clock. Once the Hornets converted that shot, they ended the frame on an 11-4 run before MacKenzie downed a jumper to make it a 65-50 Southern Vermont advantage going into the fourth.
Lyndon made it an 11-point difference with the first two scores of the final period, but SVC freshman Amber Lesure (Cheshire, Mass.) answered with a long two-pointer on the left edge as the shot clock was winding down for the first two of eight unanswered Mountaineer points. During that stretch, Johnson swiped the ball from the Hornet offense before running the floor, only to pull the ball back out to the top of the perimeter when she realized she was swarmed by Lyndon players; the Mountaineer senior drew the LSC attention, allowing MacKenzie to streak through the lane unfettered for the easy catch-and-shoot down low. The two sides traded scores late in the game as SVC closed out the decisive victory to open the 2015-16 campaign.