BROOKLINE, Mass. – Southern Vermont College fell 57-44 to Newbury College Tuesday night in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) women's basketball action at Hellenic College's Pappas Gymnasium.
After a slow start, a strong second quarter for the Mountaineers cut their deficit to five (23-18) going into the halftime break. SVC momentarily went in front during the third, but Newbury went back on top and sustained its advantage through the final 15 minutes for the league victory.
The Mountaineers (1-9, 1-4 NECC) are back at home for their next game, hosting Daniel Webster College on Thursday for a 4 p.m. Conference tilt.
Sophomore Amber Lesure (Cheshire, Mass.) came off the bench to drop a career-best 14 points, leading Southern Vermont in the category during 31 minutes on the court. Freshman Taylor Mallett (Berwick, Maine) added 11 points, three assists and a pair of boards while classmate Sarah Poirier (Ferrisburgh, Vt.) had seven points, five assists, two steals, and a team-best seven rebounds.
The Mountaineers were extremely careful with the ball, committing just 10 turnovers throughout the evening; that is the fewest for the team since 2009-10 when complete game statistics started being recorded and archived at SVC. NC connected on 40.7 percent (24-59) of its field goal attempts while the visitors went 18-for-55 (32.7 percent) from the floor. The Nighthawks pulled down a 49-25 advantage on the glass for a 13-1 upper hand in second-chance points as Southern Vermont posted an 11-9 edge in points off turnovers.
Newbury jumped out to a sizable lead early on, going up 12-0 through the 4:00 mark of the first. SVC would get on the board with a couple of baskets, but the Nighthawks answered with a three to make it a 17-3 game at the end of the opening quarter.
After the hosts opened their lead up to 16 a few minutes into the second stanza, Southern Vermont started getting its offense going and climbed right back into it. Mallett and freshman Danielle Biggers (Bronx, N.Y.) made back-to-back layups before Lesure dropped in a three during a 13-2 Mountaineer run that closed out the half. Freshman Kelly Dobbert (Stamford, Vt.) had four points late in that surge as SVC cut it to a 23-18 Nighthawk lead going into the locker room.
Mallett dropped in the first five points of the third frame to tie game, and Biggers would soon-after knock down a triple midway through the quarter to put the Mountaineers up 26-25. NC responded with seven unanswered points, however, and then added consecutive baskets before a scoreless 2:53 ended the period with Newbury up 36-29.
Lesure started the fourth quarter scoring with her second three-pointer of the night, only to see the hosts respond with one of their own at the other end. NC then tallied five straight to once again put its upper hand into double digits. Another Lesure trey helped Southern Vermont inch back to within eight, but the Nighthawks were able to push it back to a 16-point lead over the next couple minutes to put it out of reach for SVC.
– #LetsGoSVC –